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One of the Last Seminole Battle Grounds. 



THESEMINOLES 



OF 



FLORIDA 



BY 

MINNIE MOORE-WILLSON 










\ 



AMERICAN PRINTING HOUSE 

loig Cherry Street 

Philadelphia 

1896 



Copyright, 1S96 
by 

MiNNIK MoORIi-WlM.SON 



• ^^Ka^ 



^'VWVWX. 






To my uncle 

REV. R. BRADEN MOORE, D. D. 

who has encouraged me in its publication, 
this book is affectionately dedicated. 

MRS. MINNIE MOORE-WILLSON 



PREFACE 



That therejs^y^t a tribe, or are tribes of Indians in Florida is 
a fact unknown to a large part of the people of this country • there 
are even students of history who have scarcely known it. These 
people, driven, about seventy or more years ago, into the dreary 
everglades of that Southern Peninsula, have kept themselves 
secluded from the ever encroaching white population of the State 
Only occasionally would a very small number visit a town or a 
city to engage in traffic. They have had no faith in the white 
man, or the white man's government. They have aimed to be 
peaceful, but have, with inveterate purpose, abstained from inter- 
course with any of the agencies of our government. My friends 
Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson, Jr., of Kissimmee, Florida, have found 
their way to a large degree of confidence in the hearts of this 
people. They have learned something of their history, and have 
studied their manner of life, their character and habits. 

Mr. Willson has been allowed, and invited to go with some of 
their men on familiar hunting expeditions. He has seen them in 
the swamps, m their homes, and in their general life environments 
He has been admitted to their confidence and friendship. He has 
consequently become deeply interested in them . Mrs. Willson also 
has become acquainted with some of their chief personages. Both 
have learned to sympathize with these Indians in their hardships 
and in their treatment at the hands of the white race. 

Mrs. Willson began to write about them and her writing has 
grown into a book ; and she has been encouraged to give this book 
to the world, in the hope that the attention of good people may be 
drawn toward them, and that at last a true interest may be 
awakened in their moral and material well-being. They are truly 
an interesting people, living, although secluded, almost at our 
doors. 



Mrs.Willson has written earnestly, enthusiastically, and lovingly 
regarding them, and it is to be hoped that a new interest may soon 
be taken in them both by the churches and the government, and 
that they may soon enter upon new realizations, and be encouraged 
to place a confidence in the white race to which, until quite 
recently, they have been utter strangers. 

Mr. Willson has prepared the vocabulary. The words and 
phrases here given have been gathered by him in the course of eight 
or ten years of friendh- intercourse with members of the tribe. 
They have assisted him in getting the true Indian or Seminole 
word and in finding its signification. Old Chief Tallahassee has 
been especially and kindly helpful ; so has Captain Tom Tiger. 
This vocabulary of this peculiar Indian tribe, though not complete, 
ought to prove helpful to those who are interested in the languages 
of the people who roamed the forests of this great land before it 
became the home and the domain of those who now live and rule 
in it. 

This book, in its first part, gives some account of the earlier 
years of the Seminole history. In the second part the reader is 
introduced to the later and present state of things and facts regard- 
ing them. 

In the third part is found the vocabulary — a number of Semi- 
nole words, phrases and names, with their interpretation into our 
own tongue. 

This little book is given to the world in the hope that it will be 
found both interesting and valuable to many readers. 

R. Braden Moore. 

Vineland, N. J. 



CONTENTS. 



Part I. 



FACTS OF EARLIER DAYS 

Origin of Troubles 

Efforts at Indian Removal . . • 

The Massacre of General Thompson and of Dades Forces 

A Dishonored Treaty 

As-se-ho-lar, The Rising Sun, or Osceola 

The Hidden War Camp 26 

Wild Cat and General Worth 29 



PAGE 

I 

4 

9 

13 

iS 

20 



Part II. 
THE PRESENT CONDITION AND ATTITUDE OF THE 

SEMINOLES .... 
Our Duty to These Wards of the Nation 
Tallahassee 
Increasing 

Appearance and Dress 
Independence and Honor 
Endurance and Feasts 
Slavery 

Unwritten Laws 
Gens and Marriage 
Beauty and Music 
Seminoles at Home 
Billy Bowlegs 
Religion 
Bought-Back 
Mounds 
Picture Writing 
Medicine . 

Abiding Words of Beauty 
Conclusion 
Introduction to Vocabulary 



35 
50 
54 
56 

59 
62 

65 
69 
70 
76 

77 
79 
84 
86 

91 
92 

94 
95 
97 
99 
102 



Contents. 



Words Regarding Persons. 

Parts of Body 

Dress and Ornaments 
Dwellings, Implements, etc. 

Food 

Colors 

Numerals 

Divisions of Time .... 

Animals, Parts of Body, etc. 

Birds 

Fish and Reptiles .... 

Insects .... 

Plants 

The Firmament— Physical Phenomena, etc. 

Kinship ..... 

Verbs, Phrases, Sentences 

Indian Names of Some Present Seminoles 



PAGE 

105 
106 
108 
109 

113 
1x4 
114 

"5 
ii6 
117 
118 
119 
120 
121 
121 
122 
126 



Part First. 

Facts of Earlier Days. 



THE history of the American Indian is a very iliad 
of traged}-. From the day Columbus made the 
first footprints of the European in the damp 
sands of Cat Island, the story of the original owners 
of fair America has been full of melancholy, and fills 
with its dark pages every day of a quartet of centuries. 

Columbus describes the innocent happiness of these 
people — "They were no wild savages, but ver}' gentle 
and courteous," he says, "without knowing what evil is, 
without stealing, without killing." They gave to him 
a new world for Castile and Leon, while in exchange 
he gave to them "some glass beads and little red caps." 
The tragedy of the new world began when we find 
this same admiral writing to the Spanish majesties 
that he would be able to furnish them with gold, 
cotton, spices, and slaves — "slaves! as many as their 
Highnesses shall command to be shipped"; and thus, 
this land, a paradise of almost primeval loveliness, was 
transformed into a land of cruel bondage, desolation 
and death. 

History scarcel}' records an instance when hospi- 



2 THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

tality was not extended by the red man to onr first 
explorers. Swift canoes shot out from the shaded 
shores, filled with men clad in gorgeous mantles, and, 
in broken accents, their greeting was "Welcome!" 
" Come, see the people from Heaven," they cried, but 
were soon destined to believe they were from a very 
different region. Amid the salutes of artillery, the 
music of trumpets and the cheers of thousands of Cas- 
tilians did De Soto march iipon the native population. 
Greyhounds of wonderful fleetness, and bloodhounds of 
largest size and ferocity were brought to be turned 
loose upon the savages ; also handcuffs, chains and neck 
collars to secure them. From old Spanish accounts we 
conclude that the Indian population of De Soto's time 
was very large, and that the natives were in a higher 
state of civilization than at any later period ; that their 
speech, though brief, was chaste, unaffected, and evinced 
a generous sentiment. Cortez found the Aztecs and 
their dependencies challenging comparison with the 
proudest nations of the world, and in their barbarous 
magnificence rivaling the splendors of the Orient. 
Advanced in the arts, dwelling in cities, and living 
under a well organized government, they were happy 
in their position and circumstances. 

Notwithstanding the hospitable treatment shown 
by the natives to the newcomers, the Castilians 
destroyed them by the thousands. One explorer after 
another wrote of these friendly people in the new land. 
"They are very liberal," says the narrator, "for they 



FACTS OF EARLIER DAYS. 3 

give what tliey have." Sir Ralph Lane describes the 
welcome by the natives, who came with "Tobacco, 
Corne and furs and kindly gestures to be friends with 
the strange white men, etc., etc., but adds, "the Indians 
stole a Silver Cup, wherefore we burnt their Towne 
and spoylt their Corne," etc., etc. 

The time will soon be over for the study of the 
Aborigines of x-Vmerica. We have in 250 years wasted 
them from uncounted numbers to a scattering popula- 
tion of only about 275,000, while in the same length 
of time a cargo of dusky slaves from the African shores 
have become a people of millions, slaves no longer, but 
protected citizens. In the redskin, whom we have 
dispossessed of his native rights, we recognize no 
equality; yet the descendant of the barbarous black, 
whose tribe on the Golden Coast still trembles before a 
fetish, may now sit at the desk of Clay or Calhoun, 
Truly the tangled threads of modern morals are hard to 
unravel. 

The first explorers made captives of the Indians, 
and carried them in irons to Spain, where they were 
sold as slaves to the Spanish grandees. Two hundred 
years later the people of Carolina sought to enslave 
those among them. The red men rebelled at the sub- 
jection, and in order to escape bondage, began to make 
their way to the "Indian country" — the present site of 
Georgia. African bondsmen soon followed the example 
of the Indian captives, and in time continued their 
Journey to Florida. 



4 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

/// tlic attempts to recapture riuiaway slaves is 
based tJie primeval cause of the Seminole liars. 

Origin of Troubles. 

The history of the Seminoles of Florida begins 
with their separation from the Creeks of Georgia as 
early as 1750 — the name Seminole, in Indian dialect 
meaning wild wanderers or rnnaways. Seacoflfee, their 
leader, conducted them to the territory of Florida, then 
under the Spanish colonial policy. Here, they sought 
the protection of Spanish laws, refused in all after 
times to be represented in Creek councils, elected their 
own chiefs, and became, in all respects, a separate 
tribe. 

To-day the Seminoles of Florida are only a frail 
remnant of that powerful tribe of Osceola's day. Their 
history presents a character, a power and a romance 
that impels respect and an acknowledgment of their 
superiority. Of the private life of the Seminole less 
is known, perhaps, than of any other band in the 
United States. His life has been one long struggle for 
a resting place; he has fought for home, happy hunting 
grounds and the burial place of his fathers. At pres- 
ent we can only see a race whose destiny says — ex- 
tinction. 

The wilds of Florida became a home for these 
Indians as well as for the fugitive negro slaves of the 
Southern States. The Indian and the negro refugee, 
settling in the same sections, became friendly, and in 



ORIGIN OF TROUBLES. 5 

time some of their people intermarried. The same 
American spirit that refused to submit to "Taxation 
without Representation," was strong in the breast of 
the Seminole, and Florida, belonging to Spain, aiford- 
ed him a retreat for his independent pursuits. Subject 
only to the Spanish crown, the exiles found a home, 
safe from the inexorable slave catchers. The Seminoles 
were now enjoying liberty, and a social solitude, and 
refused to make a treaty with the colonial government, 
or with the Creeks from whom they had separated. 
One demand after another was made upon the Spanish 
government at St. Augustine for the return of the 
fugitives, which was always rejected. African slaves 
continued to flee from their masters to find refuge with 
the exiles and the Indians. They were eagerly received, 
and kindly treated, and soon admitted to a footing of 
equality. The growing demand for slaves in the south- 
ern colonies now made the outlook serious, and from 
the attempts to compel the return of the negroes grew 
the first hostilities. 

One of the first communications ever sent to Con- 
gress after it met was b}- the Georgia colony, stating 
that "a large number of continental troops would be 
required to prevent the slaves from deserting their 
masters." But in that momentous year of 1776, Con- 
gress had more important duties on hand, and it was 
not until 1790 that a treaty was entered into between 
the Creeks and the United States. In this treaty, the 
Creeks, now at enmity with the Seminoles, agreed to 



6 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

restore the slaves of the Georgia planters who had 
taken refnge among them. The Seminoles refused to 
recognize the treaty — they were no longer a part of the 
Creeks, they resided in Florida and considered them- 
selves subject only to the crown of Spain. One can 
readily believe that the Spanish authorities encouraged 
their independence. Legally the exiles had become a 
free people. 

The Creeks now found themselves utterly unable 
to comply with their treaty. The planters of Georgia 
began to press the government for the return of their 
fugitive slaves. Secretary Knox, foreseeing the diffi- 
culty of recovering runaway slaves, wrote to the Presi- 
dent advising that the Georgia people be paid by the 
government for the loss of their bondmen. The 
message was tabled, and until 1810 the Seminoles and 
negroes lived in comparative peace. 

The people of Georgia, now seeing the only appar- 
ent way to obtain possession of their slaves would be 
by the annexation of Florida, began to petition for this, 
but the United States, feeling less interest in slave 
catching than did the state of Georgia, manipulated 
affairs so slowly that Georgia determined to redress her 
own grievances, entered Florida and began hostilities. 
The United States was too much occupied with the 
war with Great Britain to take cognizance of Indian 
troubles in a Spanish province, hence the Georgia 
intruders met with defeat. For a short time after these 
hostilities ceased the Seminoles and their allies enjoyed 



ORIGIN OF TROUBLES. 7 

prosperity, cultivated their fields, told their traditions 
and sang their rude lays around their peaceful camp 
fires. Seventy-five years had passed since their an- 
cestors had found a home in Florida, and it was hard 
for them to understand the claims of the southern 
planters. 

The year 1816 found the Seminoles at peace with 
the white race. In a district inhabited by many of the 
Indians on the Appalachicola river w^as Blount's Fort. 
The fort, although Spanish property, was reported 
as an '^ asylum for runawa>' negroes." General Jackson, 
now in military command, ordered the "blowing up ol 
the fort and the return of the negroes to their rightful 
owners." The exiles knowing little of scientific war- 
fare believed themselves safe in this retreat; and when 
in 1 8 16 an expedition under Col. Duncan h. Clinch 
was planned, the hapless Indians and Negroes un- 
knowingly rushed into the very jaws of death. A 
shot from a gunboat exploded the magazines and de- 
stroyed the garrison. History records that of 334 souls 
in the fort, 270 were /;/^/^«//i' ^I'l/ed/ The groans of 
the wounded and d>-ing, the savage war whoops of the 
Indians inspired the most fiendish revenge in the 
hearts of those who escaped, and marks the beginning 
of the ^rsf Seminole War. 

Savage vengeance was now on fire, and "Blount's 
Fort" became the magnetic war cry of the Seminole 
chiefs as they urged their warriors to retaliation. This 
barbarous sacrifice of innocent women and children 



8 THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

conducted by a christian nation against a helpless race, 
and for no other cause than that their ancestors, one 
hundred years before, had been born in slaver>-, marks 
a period of cruelty, one of the most wanton in the 
history of our nation. 

The inhuman way in which the massacre was 
conducted was never published at large ; nor does the 
War Department have any record of the taking of 
Blount's Fort, as is shown by the following: 

"An examination of the records of this Depart- 
ment has been made, but no information bearing upon 
the subject of the taking of Blount's Fort, Florida, in 
the year 1816, has been found of record." 

" By authority of the Secretary of War." 

"F. C. AiNSWORTH, 

Colonel, U. S. Army, Chief of Office." 

"Washington, July 25, 1895." 

History does not dwell on the cruel treatment the 
Indians received from the United States authorities 
during the Seminole Wars, yet pages of our National 
Library are devoted to the barbarity of the Seminoles. 
There are two sides to every question, and it is only 
what the Indian does to the white man that is 
published, and not what the white man does to the 
Indian. 

The facts show that instead of seeking to injure 
the people of the United States, the Seminoles were, 
and have been, only anxious to be free from all contact 



EFFORTS AT INDIAN REMOVAL- 9 

witli our goveniinent. In no official correspondence 
is there any reference made to acts of hostility by the 
Indians, prior to the massacre at Blount's Fort. 

But Floridians, who had urged the war with the 
hope of seizing and enslaving the maroons of the inter- 
ior, now saw their own plantations laid waste, villages 
abandoned to the enemy, and families suffering for 
bread. The war had been commenced for an ignoble 
purpose — to re-enslave fellow-men — and taught that 
every violation of justice is followed by appropriate 
penalties. 

Few of the people of the United States knew the 
true cause of the war, nor the real inwardness of the 
purposes of those in command, as history and official 
documents show that affairs were in the hands of the 
Executive rather than in those of Congress. The first 
war was in itself an act of hostility to the King of 
Spain; yet nothing was gained by our government 
except possession of part of the fugitives. IMilitary 
forces could not pursue the Indians into the fastnesses 
of the Everglades, and after two years of bloodshed and 
expenditure of thousands of dollars, peace was in a 
manner restored, and the army was withdrawn without 
any treat}' being signed. 

Efforts at Indian Removal. 

The Indians had set the American government at 
defiance. The slaves of Southern States continued to 
run away, taking refuge with the exiles and Seminoles ; 



lo THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

the slave-holders of Georgia became more clamorous 
than ever. The Spanish crown could not protect her- 
self from the invasion of the Americans when in pur- 
suit of runaway negroes. She had seen her own 
subjects massacred, her forts destroyed or captured, and 
her rights as a nation insulted by an x'Vmerican army. 
In 1819, by a combination of force and negotiation, 
Florida was purchased from Spain for $5,000,000. 

Thus the Seminoles were brought under the 
dominion they so much dreaded. Slave-holders 
once more petitioned to the United States for aid in 
the capture of their escaped property. The United 
States, foiled in their treaty with the Creeks, now rec- 
ognized the Seminoles as a distinct tribe, and invited 
their chiefs to meet our commissioners and negotiate 
a treaty. The Seminoles agreed in this treaty to take 
certain reservations assigned them, the United States 
covenanting to take the Florida Indians under her 
care and to afford them protection against all persons 
zvhat soever^ and to restrain and prevent all ivhite per- 
sons from hunting, settling or ot he revise intruding upon 
said lands. 

B}' this treaty all their cultivated lands were given 
up to the whites, and the Seminoles retired to the 
interior. Once more this long persecuted people found 
refuge, but it was only for a short time. The value of 
slaves in States North, caused slave catchers with 
chains and bloodhounds to enter Florida. They seized 
the slaves of the Indians, stole their horses and cattle 



EFFORTS AT INDIAN REMOVAL li 

and depredated their property. With such a violation 
of the treaty, renewed hostilities were inevitable. 

The Indians petitioned for redress, but received 
none. Affairs grew worse until 1828, when the idea of 
emig-ration for the Indians was submitted to the chiefs. 
After much persuasion, a few of the tribal leaders were 
induced to visit the Western country. They found the 
climate cold, and a land where "snow covers the 
ground, and frosts chill the bodies of men,'' and on 
general principles, Arkansas a delusion and a snare. 
The chiefs had been told they might go and see for 
themselves, but that they were not obliged to move 
unless they liked the land. In their speech to the 
Commissioner they said : " We are not willing to go. 
If our tongues say 'yes', our hearts cry 'no.' You 
would send us among bad Indians, with whom we 
could never be at rest. Even our horses were stolen 
b)- the Pawnees, and we were obliged to carry our packs 
on our backs. We are not hungry for other lands — 
we are happy here. If we are torn from these forests 
our heartstrings will snap." Notwithstanding the 
opposition to a treat}', by a system of coercion, a part 
of the chiefs were induced to sign, and fifteen undoubted 
Seminole cross-marks were affixed to the paper. This 
was not enough, according to Indian laws, to compel 
emigration. The stipulations read, "prepare to emi- 
grate West, and join the Creeks.'''' There was no agree- 
ment that their negroes should accompany them, and 
they refused to move. Expecting a tribe which had 



12 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

lived at enmity with the Creeks since their separation 
in 1750 to emigrate and live with them, was bnt to pnt 
weapons into their hands, and did not coincide with 
the ideas of the Seminoles. 

The United States prepared to execute — not a red- 
skin w^as ready, and troops were sent. The Indians 
began immediately to gather their crops, remove the 
sqnaws and piccaninnies to places of safety, secure 
war equipments, — in short, prepare for battle. 

It was a question of wonderment many times 

among the officers how the Indians procured their 

ammunition in such quantities, and how they kept 

from actual starvation. Hidden as they were in their 

strong fortresses — the fastnesses of the swamps — many 

believed that the}- would be starved out, and would 

either stand a fair field fight or sue for peace. An old 

Florida settler who carried his rifle through seven }-ears 

of Indian warfare, explains the mystery. He says : 

"The Indians had been gathering powder and lead for 

years, ever since the time Chief Neamathla made his 

treaty with General Jackson. Besides, Cuban fishing 

smacks were always bringing it in and trading with 

the redskins for hides and furs. As for provisions, 

they had their ' Koontie ' flour, the acorn of the 

live oak, which is fair eating when roasted, and the 

cabbage of the palmetto tree. For meat, the woods 

were full of it. Deer and bear were abundant, to say 

nothing of small game, such as wild turkey, turtle and 

squirrel." The Seminoles at this time, 1834, owned, 



MASSACRE OF GEN. THOMPSON AND DADES FORCES. 13 

perhaps, two hundred slaves, their people had inter- 
married with the maroons, and in fighting for these 
allies the}- were fighting for blood and kin. To remove 
the Indians and not the Negroes was a difiicnlt thing to 
do. The Seminoles, now pressed by the United States 
troops, committed depredations upon the whites ; bloody 
tragedies occurred, and the horrors of the second Sem- 
inole War were chronicled throughout the land. 

The Massacre of General Thompson and of 
Dades Forces. 
It was now that the young and daring warrior, 
Osceola, came into prominence. He had recently 
married the daughter of an Indian chief, but whose 
mother was the descendant of a fugitive slave. By 
slave-holding laws, the child follows the condition of the 
mother, and Osceola's wife was called an African slave. 
The young warrior, in company with his wife, visited 
the trading post of Fort King for the purpose of buy- 
ing supplies. While there the young wife was seized 
and carried off in chains. Osceola became wild with 
grief and rage, and no knight of ca\-alier days ever 
showed more valor than did this Spartan Indian in the 
attempts to recapture his wife. For this he was arrest- 
ed by order of General Thompson and put in irons. 
With the cunning of the Indian, Osceola affected peni- 
tence and was released — but revenge was uppermost in 
his soul. The war might succeed or fail for all he cared — 
to avenge the capture of his wife was his every 



14 THE SKMINOLEvS OF FLORIDA. 

thought. For weeks he secreted himself, watching- an op- 
portunity to murder General Thompson and his friends. 
No influence could dissuade him from his bloody pur- 
pose. Discovering General Thomj^son and Lieutenant 
Smith taking a walk one day, Osceola, yelling the war 
cry sprang like a mountain cat from his hiding place 
and murdered both men. 

His work of vengeance was now complete, and 
almost as wild as a Scandanavian Saga was the fight 
he now gave our generals for nearh' two years. 

While Osceola lay in wait for General Thomp- 
son, plans were being completed which resulted in the 
Dade Massacre. 

The enmity of the Indian is proverbial, and when 
we reflect that for fifty years the persecutions by the 
whites had been "talked" in their camps, that the 
massacre of Blount's Fort was still unavenged, that 
within memory fathers and mothers had been torn, 
moaning and groaning from their midst, to be sold into 
bondage ; with their savage natures all on fire for re- 
taliation, no vengeance was too terrible. 

Hostilities around Fort King, now the present 
site of Ocala, becoming severe. General Clinch ordered 
the troops under Major Dade, then stationed at Fort 
Brooke, (Tampa) to march to his assistance. Neither 
officers nor soldiers were acquainted with the route— 
and a negro guide was detailed to lead them. This 
unique character was Louis Pacheo, a negro slave be- 
longing to an old Spanish family, then living near 



MASSACRE OF GEN. THOMPSON AND DADES FORCES. 15 

Fort Brooke. The slave was well acquainted with the 
Indians, spoke the Seminole tongue fluently. He 
was reported by his master, as faithful, mtelligent 
and tnistiuorthy, and was perfectly familiar with the 
route to Fort King. 

The affair of Dades Massacre is without a parallel 
in the history of Indian war-fare. Of the no souls, 
who, with flying flags and sounding bugles merrily re- 
sponded to General Clinch's order, but two lived to 
describe in after years the tragic scenes. One was 
Private Clark, of the 2nd artillery, who, wounded and 
sick crawled on his hands and knees a distance of sixty 
miles to Fort Brooke. The other was Louis Pacheo, 
the only person of the command who escaped zvithoiit a 
zv 01 1 lid. 

The assault was made shortly after the troops cross- 
ed the Withlacoochee river, in a broad expanse of 
open pine woods, with here and there clumps of pal- 
mettoes and tall wire grass. The Indians are supposed 
to have out-numbered the command, two to one, and 
at a given signal, as the troops marched gayly along, a 
volle\' of shot was poured into their number. The 
"gallant Dade" was the first to fall pierced by a ball 
from iVIicanopy's musket, who was the King of the 
Seminole nation. A breastwork was attempted by the 
soldiers, but only served as a retreat for a short time ; 
the hot missiles from the Indians soon laid the last 
man motionless, and the slaughter was at an end. 

On February 20, 1836, almost two months after 



i6 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

the massacre, the dead bodies of the officers and sol- 
diers were found just as they had fallen on that fatal 
day. History is corroborated by old settlers, who say 
" that the dead were in no way pillaged ; articles the 
most esteemed by savages were untouched, their 
watches were found in the pockets, and money, in sil- 
ver and gold, was left to decay with its owner — a lesson 
to all the world — a testimony that the Indians were 
not fighting for plunder ! The arms and ammunition 
were all that had been taken, except the uniform coat 
of Major Dade." Their motive was higher and purer 
— they were fighting for their rights, their homes, their 
very existence. 

What became of the negro guide? History records 
that Louis, knowing the time and place at which the 
attack was to be made, separated himself from the 
troops. As soon as the fire commenced, he joined the 
Indians and negroes, and lent his efforts in carrying 
forth the work of death. An extract printed over forty 
>'ears ago describes the character of the negro Louis. 
It reads as follows: 

"The life of the slave Louis is perhaps the most 
romantic of any man now living. Born and reared a 
slave, he found time to cultivate his intellect — was fond 
of reading ; and while gentlemen in the House of Rep- 
resentatives were engaged in discussing the value of 
his bones and sinews, he could probably speak and 
write more languages with ease and facility than any 
member of that body. In revenge for the oppression 
to which he was subjected, he conceived the purpose 



MASSACRE OF GEN. THOMPSON AND DADES FORCES. 17 

of sacrificing a regiment of white men who were 
engaged in the support of slavery. This object effected, 
he asserted his own natural right to freedom, joined 
his brethren, and made bloody war upon the enemies 
of liberty. For two years he was the steady compan- 
ion of Coacoochee, or, as he was afterwards called, 
"Wild Cat," who subsequently became the most war- 
like chief in Florida. They traversed the forests of 
that territory together, wading through swamps and 
everglades, groping their wa}' through hommocks, and 
gliding over prairies. For two years they stood shoul- 
der to shoulder in every battle ; shared their victories 
and defeats together; and, when General Jessup had 
pledged the faith of the nation that all Indians who 
would surrender should be protected in the enjoyment 
of their slaves, Wild Cat appeared at headquarters, 
followed by Louis, whom he claimed as his property^ 
under slaveholding law, as he said he had captured 
him at the time of Dade's defeat." 

Following Louis Pacheo's career, we find him 
sharing the fortunes of Wild Cat in the Indian Terri- 
tory. Subsequently, Wild Cat, with a few followers, 
Louis among the number, emigrated to Mexico. Fifty- 
seven years passed from the date of the Dade massacre, 
when Louis Pacheo, venerable and decrepit, once more 
appeared on Florida soil. The old negro, longing for 
the scenes of his youth, returned to end his days in the 
hospitable home of his " old missus," who yet resides in 
Jacksonville, Florida. In his confession he claims to be 
innocent of the charge of betraying the troops, and 
asserts that he was forced into remaining- with the 



i8 THE SEMINOIvEvS OF FLORIDA. 

Indians. The vagaries of a childish mind may account 
for his diversion from well-established history. The 
old slave lived for three years after his return to 
Florida, and died in January, 1895, at the age of 
95 years. 

A Dishonored Treaty. 

The tragic news of the Dade Massacre convinced 
the United States that war had commenced in real 
earnest. From this time on, skirmish after skirmish 
ensued, bloody murders were committed by the red- 
skins, thousands of dollars were being expended by our 
government, and the white population of Florida was 
in a suffering condition: The Indians were not suffer- 
ing for food. The chameleon-like character of the war 
prevented any c?ertainty of success. General Jessup, 
considerably chagrined, wrote to Washington for per- 
mission to Yesign both the glory and baton of his com- 
mand. 

There could scarcely arise a more painful theme, 
or one presenting a stranger variety of aspects, as it 
whirled scathing and bloodilyalong, than did the Indian 
War. Yet it is a remarkable fact that no Seminole 
warrior had ever surrendered, even to superior num- 
bers. Our military forces had learned what a hydra- 
headed monster the war really was, and attempts were 
again made to induce emigration. The horrors of the 
Dade Massacre and of Fort King had reached the world. 
General Jessup sought negotiations, but found the same 



A DISHONORED TREATY. 19. 

difficulties to encounter as before, viz.: that the chiefs 
would not enter into an agreement that did not guar- 
antee equal rights to their allies as to the Indians. 
Official documents show that General Jessup agreed 
that " the Seminoles and their allies who come in and 
emigrate West, shall be secure in their lives and prop- 
erty ; that their negroes, their bona fide property, shall 
accompany them West, and that their cattle and ponies 
shall be paid for by the United States." The Indians, 
under these terms, now prepared to emigrate. History 
records that even Osceola avowed his intention to 
accompany them. Ever}- preparation was made to emi- 
grate, and a tract of land near Tampa was selected on 
which to gather their people. Hundreds of Indians 
and negroes encamped here. Vessels were anchored 
to transport them to their new homes. Peace was ap- 
parent everywhere, and the war declared at an end. 
At this point a new difficulty arose. Slaveholders be- 
came indignant at the stipulations of the treaty, and 
once more commenced to seize negroes. The Sem- 
inoles, thinking themselves betrayed, with clear con- 
ceptions of justice, fled to their former fastnesses in the 
interior, and once more determined to defend their 
liberty. 

In the violation of the treaty, to use General 
Jessup's words, all zvas lost!! 

All the vengeance of the Indian was again arou.'^ed, 
and the wild Seminole war-cry, "Yohoehee! yohoe- 
hee," again broke through the woods. 



20 THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

As-SE-HE-HO-LAR, The Rising Sun, or Osceola. 

The fame of Osceola now reached the farthermost 
corner of the land. His name, signifying Rising Snn,* 
seemed prophetic, and he became at once the warrior 
of the Ocklawaha — the hero of the Seminoles. The 
youngest of the chiefs, he possessed a magnetism that 
Cyrus might have envied, and in a manner truly ma- 
jestic led his warriors where he chose. 

In the personal reminiscences of an old Florida 
settler, in describing Osceola, he says, "I consider him 
one of the greatest men this country ever produced. 
He was a great man, and a curious one, too ; but few 
people knew him well enough to appreciate his worth. 
I was raised within ten miles of his home, and it was 
he who gave me my first lessons in woodcraft. He was 
a brave and generous foe, and always protected women 
and children. An act of kindness was never forgotten 
by him. Osceola had received a favor from one of the 
officers who led the battle of the Withlacoochee. Ob- 
.serving him in the front ranks, he instantly gave or- 
ders that this man should be spared, but every other 
officer should be cut down. Osceola's father was an 
English trader named Powell, and his mother the 
daughter of a chief known as Sallie Marie — a woman 
very small in stature, and with high cheek-bones. Os- 

* Catlin and others give " the black drink " as the signification of Osceola, 
or Asseola, from the man's capacity for that drink. Asseola was doubtless the 
original and true name. But " Asse " or "basse," in the present Seminole 
tongue, means " the sun." This, with the affix " ola," or " he-ho-lar," would 
mean " the rising sun " rather than " the black drink." 




Si.ster-iu-law of Osceola, S5 years old, and her great great-grand-childreu. 



AS-SE-HE-HO-LAR, THE RISING SUN, OR OvSCEOLA. 21 

ceola lacked this peculiarity, and was one of the finest- 
looking men I ever saw. His carriage was erect and 
lofty, his motion quick, and he had an air of hauteur 
in his countenance which arose from his elevated pride 
of soul. I tell you, he was a great man ; education 
would have made him the equal of Napoleon. He 
hated slavery as only such a nature as his could hate. 
He was Indian to the heart, and proud of his ancestry. 
He had too much white blood in him to yield to the 
cowardly offers of the government, and had he not been 
captured, the Seminole War would have been a more 
lasting one than it was. I could talk all day about 
Osceola," remarked the old Captain, as he drew a sigh. 
" Did the Indians take scalps, Captain?" "Take scalps? 

well, yes, if Osceola wasn't around. He was too 

much of a white man to allow it himself" 

The admixture of Caucasian blood, stimulated the 
ambition of Osceola's Indian nature; his book learning, 
together with the teachings of nature, made him able 
to cope with the most learned. Living until he was 
almost twelve years of age in the Creek confederacy of 
Georgia, his youthful mind received deep and lasting 
impressions from Tecumseh's teachings. To these 
teachings, as well as the blood he inherited from his 
Spartan ancestors was due, no doubt, his supremacy in 
the Seminole war. In the manner in which he led the 
Seminoles may be seen the influence of the great 
Shawnee. Osceola's power was in his strong personal 
magnetism; he swayed his warriors with a look — a 



22 THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

sliout of command produced an electric effect upon all. 
He was a hero among his people, he was feared and 
dreaded by our officers. In this day, as we study his 
life and character, we must recognize in the young 
Seminole fighter, the greatest of chiefs, the boldest of 
warriors. 

Interviewing old settlers who well remember 
events of those stiring times, one finds the heroic part 
of Osceola's character to have been not overdrawn in 
histor\'. The Seminole chief, Charles Omatla, was an 
all}- of the whites, and was attacked and murdered 
by Osceola's warriors. On his body was found gold, 
which Osceola forbade his men to touch, but with his 
own hands he threw the gold himself as far as he 
could hurl it, saying " it is the price of the red man's 
blood." 

Osceola's pride was majestic ; he was imperious, 
full of honor, but with the quickness of the Indian he 
noted the path to popular favor. His power was recog- 
nized by the officers. " Talk after talk," with the 
Indians was the order of the times. It was at one of 
these meetings that Osceola in the presence of the com- 
missioners attracted attention by saying, "this is the 
only treaty I will ever make with the whites," at the same 
time drawing his knife and striking it into the table 
before him. The cause of this outburst was that the 
stipulations of the treaty guaranteed no protection to 
the allies. He was arrested for his insolence, but was 
released on a compromise. His vengeance became 



AS-SE-HE-HO-LAR, THE RISING SUN, OR OSCEOLA. 23 

more terrible than ever, and in defiance "Yohoehee" 
echoed through the woods and " war to the knife" was 
resumed. It was now that the daring chief made the 
bold and well conducted assault against the fort at 
Micanopy. A short time after, this savage hero per- 
formed a piece of strategy before unheard of in the 
annals of war. Surrounded by two armies of equal 
strength with his own, he carried away his warriors 
withoAit leaving a trace of his retreat. That host of 
Indian braves melted out of sight as if by magic, and 
our disappointed generals could not but agree that a 
disciplined army was not adapted to the work of 
surprising Indians. They were learning to recog- 
nize the character of the men our nation had to deal 
with. 

The Indian method is to decoy by a broad plain 
trail, then at a certain distance the foremost of the 
band makes a high long step — leaves the trail and 
alighting on the tip of his toe, carefully smoothes out 
the brushed blades behind him. The rest of the band 
go on a few yards farther and make their exit the same 
way, and so on till the end is reached. Many times 
our troops made long night marches to find — what? 
nothing but a few smouldering camp fires. 

The war waged on in defiance of the power of a 

mighty nation — a nation that had said to old King 

George, "attend to your own affairs" and he obeyed. 

One is half tempted to believe that a kind of dark 

fatality controlled our army's best planned movements. 



2^ THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

After months of warfare, Osceola in company 
with Wild Cat and other chiefs was persuaded, under 
a flag of truce, to meet General Hernandez on October 
21, 1837, at St. Augustine. With that grave dignity 
characteristic of the red man, dressed in costume be- 
coming their station, with as courtly a bearing as ever 
graced kings, heralding their white flags they approach- 
ed the place of meeting. 

History verifies the Seminole account of this blot 
on our nation, that as the officers approached, they 
asked of Osceola: " Are you prepared to deliver up the 
negroes taken from the citizens? Why have vou not 
surrendered them as promised by your chief Cohadjo?" 
According to history, this promise had been made 
by a sub-chief and without the consent of the tribe. 
A signal, preconcerted, was at this moment given and 
armed soldiers rushed in and made prisoners of the 
chiefs. 

An account of this violated honor, recently giv- 
en by the venerable John S. Masters, of St. Augusttne, 
Florida, is opportune at this point. The old soldier 
m speaking of the afl^air said, " I was one of the party 
sent out to meet Osceola when he was coming to St 
Augustine under a flag of truce. " "Did you'' honor 
that truce?" was asked. " Did we ? No sir ; no soon- 
er was he safe within our lines than the order to seize 
him, kill if necessary, was given, and one of the 
soldiers knocked him down with the butt of his musket. 
He was then bound and we brought him to Fort Mar- 



AS-SE-HE-HO-LAR, THE RISING SUN, OR OSCEOLA. 25 

ion and he was put in the dungeon. We were all out- 
raged b}^ the cowardly way he was betrayed into being 
captured." 

At this violation of the sanctity of the white flag 
our officers wrote : "The end justifies the means — they 
have made fools of us too often." 

The foul means used to capture the young Sem- 
inole leader was not blessed by victory, as a continu- 
ance of the bloody war for five years proved that the 
God of justice was not wholly on the white man's side. 
The stain on our national honor will last as long as we 
have a history. Osceola, with the other chiefs was 
confined for a short time in St. Augustine, but the 
daring savage was too valuable a prize to trust on 
Florida territory, and he was taken to Fort Moultrie 
where he died January 30, 1838, at the age of thirty- 
four years. 

Thoroughly and thrillingly dramatic was the death 
scene of the noble Osceola as given by Dr. Weedon his 
attending surgeon. Confinement no doubt hastened 
his death, and his proud spirit sank under the doom of 
prison life. He seemed to feel the approach of death, 
and about half an hour before the summons came he 
signified by signs — he could not speak — that he wished 
to see the chiefs and officers of the post. Making known 
that he wished his full dress, which he wore in time of 
war, it was brought him, and rising from his bed he 
dressed himself in the insignia of a chief. Exhausted 
by these efforts the swelling heart of the tempest-tossed 



26 THE SEMINOLES OF FIvORIDA. 

frame subsided into stillest melancholy. With the 
death sweat already upon his brow, Osceola laid down a 
few minutes to recover his strength. Then, rising as 
before, with gloom dispelled, and a face agleam with 
smiles, the young warrior reached forth his hand and 
in dead silence bade each and all the officers and chiefs 
a last farewell. By his couch knelt his two wives and 
his little children. With the same oppressive silence 
he tenderly shook hands with these loved ones. Then 
signifying his wish to be lowered on his bed, with slow 
hand he drew from his war belt his scalping knife which 
he firmly grasped in his right hand, laying it across the 
the other on his breast. In another moment he smiled 
away his last breath, without a struggle or a groan. 
In that death chamber there was not one tearless eye. 
Friends and foes, alike, wept over the dying chief 
Osceola 4ied as he lived — a hero among men. 

The Hidden War Camp. 

Wild Cat and Cohadjo were allowed to remain in 
the prison at St. Augustine. Wild Cat feigned sick-' 
ness and was permitted, under guard, to go to the woods 
to obtain some roots — with these he reduced his size 
until he was able to crawl through an aperture that 
admitted light into the cell. Letting himself down by 
ropes made of the bedding, a distance of fifty feet, he 
made his escape, joined his tribe and once more rallied 
his forces against our army. Latter day critics have 
questioned the correctness of this bit of written history. 



THE HIDDEN WAR CAMP. 27 

Last winter, during the height of the season, the Ponce 
de Leon gnests enjoyed a uniqne entertainment. A 
wealthy tonrist made a wager of one hnndred dollars 
that "Wild Cat never conld have made his escape 
through the little window in the old castle." Sergeant 
Brown accepted the wager and himself performed the 
feat, to the great delight of the excited spectators. 

Our soldiers fighting in an unexplored wilderness, 
along the dark borders of swamp and morass, crawling 
many times on hands and knees through the tangled 
matted underbrush, fighting these children of the forest 
who knew every inch of their ground could hope for 
little less than defeat. Even General Jessup in writing 
to the President said: "We are attempting to remove 
the Indians when they are not in the way of the 
white settlers, and when the greater portion of the 
country is an unexplored wilderness, of the interior of 
which we are as ignorant as of the interior of China." 

By way of illustrating the enormity of the task 
the government had in subduing the Seminoles, it is 
only necessary to describe one of the many Indian 
strongholds in the swamps of Florida. About ten 
miles from Kissimmee, west by south, is a cypress 
swamp made by the junction of the Davenport, Reedy 
and Bonnet creeks. It is an acquatic jungle, full of 
fallen trees, brush, vines and tangled undergrowth, all 
darkened by the dense shadows of the 'tall c\-press trees. 
The surface is covered with water, which, from appear- 
ance may be any depth, from six inches to six feet ; 



28 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

this infested with alligators and moccasins would have 
been an unsurniountable barrier to the white troops. 

A few years ago when the Seminoles yet frequented 
this section for trading purposes, old settlers have seen 
them coming from the swamp carrying bags of oranges. 
Interrogations received no answers and white settlers 
year after year searched for the traditional orange grove, 
but without success. 

So difficult to penetrate and so dangerous to ex- 
plore is the swamp that it was not until fifty years after 
the Indians had left their island home that a venture- 
some hunter, during a very dry season, accidentally 
discovered the old Seminole camp. The Indian mound, 
the broken pottery and the long hunted for sweet 
orange grove were proofs of the old camp. The 
majestic orange trees laden with golden fruit, were an 
incentive to further research. With a surveyor work- 
ing his way, as guided by the point of the compass, 
this wonderland was explored, and proved to be a com- 
plete chain of small hommocks or islands running 
through from one side of the swamp to the other ; 
the topography of the marsh being such that a skirm- 
ish could take place on one side of the jungle and an 
hour later, by means of the secret route through the 
swamp, the Indians could be ready for an attack on the 
other side, while for the troops to reach the same point, 
by following the onh^ road known to them, it would 
have required nearly a day's marching. The Indian trail 
is lost in the almost impenetrable jungle; but the toma- 



WILD CAT AND GENERAL WORTH. 29 

hawk blazes are perefectly discernible. The Seminoles 
held the key to these mysterious islands and in the heart 
of the great swamps they lived free from any danger of 
surprise. This retreat must have been a grand rendez- 
vous for them, as its geographical position was almost 
central between the principal forts. Lying between 
Fort Brooke (Tampa) and Fort King (Ocala), within a 
distance of thirt>- miles from the scene of the Dade 
massacre, about forty miles from Fort ^lellon, the pres- 
ent site of Sanford, the camp could have been reached 
in a few hours by Indian runners after spying the 
movements of the troops at any of the forts. The old 
government road, over which the soldiers passed in 
going from Fort Brooke to Fort :\Iellon, passes so close 
to the old Indian camping ground that all tra\el could 
have been watched by the keen eyed warriors. 

Wild Cat and General Worth. 
At this period of our national history we are un- 
able to picture or appreciate the condition of those 
slave days, when all blacks of Southern States were 
regarded as the property of the whites. The fear, the 
torture, the grief suffered by the negroes and half breeds, 
who had been a people with the Seminoles almost one 
hundred years, is be^-ond our conception. When Indian 
husbands were separated from wives selected from the 
exiles— when children were torn from their homes and 
carried to slavery, the vengeance of these persecuted 
people was constantly alive. Persons of disreputable 



3° THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

character — gamblers, horse thieves — were einplo\-ed as 
slave catchers and showed no mercy to the helpless 
victim. 

After tlie violation of the treaty at Tampa, and 
the capture of Osceola and Wild Cat, under the sacred 
truce of the white flag, Wild Cat became a most daring 
enemy to the troops, and kept his warriors inspired .to 
the most savage hostilities. 

General Scott was now placed in command of 
the army, yet the same harassing marches continued, 
and it was not until seven generals had been defeated 
at the game of Indian warfare by the wily chieftains 
that any sign of success was apparent. 

Our Government discouraged at being unable to 
conquer the Indians, or protect the white settlers, 
again negotiated for peace, but using a more powerful 
weapon than in former years— that of moral suasion. 
Executive documents show that all through the war, 
artifice and bad faith were practiced upon the Indians. 
The Government was astonished that a few Indians and 
their Negro allies could defy United States troops. All 
efforts had failed, even to the horrible policy of employ- 
ing bloodhounds. To-day we shudder at the barbarity 
of such an act, but official documents show how much 
the subject was discussed by Congress and war author- 
ities. A schooner was dispatched to Cuba and return- 
ed with thirty-five bloodhounds — costing the Govern- 
ment one hundred and fifty dollars apiece. They were 
speedily put upon the scent of Indian scouting parties. 



WILD CAT AND GENERAL WORTH. 31 

but proved utterly iuefficient. The public believed the 
hounds were to trail Indians, but reports show their 
use was to capture Negro slaves. The Seniinoles were 
a species of game to which Cuban hounds were un- 
accustomed and they refused to form acquaintance with 
the new and strange objects. The Indians had a secret 
peculiarly their own of throwing the dogs off the scent,, 
and the experiment, to close the war thus, proved a 
failure and served no other purpose than to reflect dis- 
honor on our nation. 

Wild Cat, after his escape from prison, was a 
terrible and unrelenting foe. Occupying with light 
canoes the miry, shallow creeks, and matted breaks 
upon their border, he was unapproachable. A flag was 
sent him by General Worth, but remembering well an- 
other flag which had meant betrayal, capture and 
chains, the daring hero fired upon it and refused to 
meet the general. In the sunnner of 1841, General 
Worth's command captured the little daughter of Wild 
Cat and held her for ransom. The little girl — his only 
child — was the idol of the old warrior's heart. On 
learning of her capture. Wild Cat relented, and, once 
more guarded by the white flag, was conveyed to 
General Worth's camp. History gives an interesting 
account of the old chief's approach. His little daughter, 
on seeing him, ran to meet him, presenting him with 
musket balls and powder, which she had in some way 
obtained from the soldiers. So much overcome was 
the fearless savage on meeting his child that the digni- 



32 THE SEMINOIvEvS OF FLORIDA. 

fied bearing so carefully practiced by all Indians, gave 

way to the most tender emotions. 

The moral suasion, the humanity of General 

Worth made a friend of Wild Cat, and he yielded to 

the stipulations. 

The speech of the old chieftain, because it breathes 

the same sentiment of the Seminoles of to-day, we give 

below. Addressing General Worth, he said : 

"The whites dealt unjustly with me. I came to 

them when they deceived me. I loved the land I was 

upon. My body is made of its sands. The great 
spirit gave me legs to walk over it, e}-es to see it, hands 

to aid myself, a head with which I think. The sun 
which shines warm and bright brings forth our crops, 
and the moon brings back spirits of our warriors, our 
fathers, our wives and our children. The white man 
comes, he grows pale and sickly ; wh)^ can we not live 
in peace? They steal our horses and cattle, cheat us 
and take our lands. They may shoot us, chain our 
hands and feet, but the red man's heart will be free. 
I have come to you in peace, and have taken you by 
the hand, I will sleep in your camp, though your soldiers 
stand around me thick as pine trees. I am done. 
When we know each other better, I will say more." 

Through the gentleness and the humanity of the 
"gallant Worth," Wild Cat at this meeting agreed to 
emigrate with his people. He was permitted to leave 
the camp for this purpose. By some contradictory 
order, while on his way to his warriors, he was captured 



WIIvD CAT AND GENERAL WORTH. 33 

bv one of our commands, put in chains and transported 
to New Orleans. 

When General Worth learned of this violation of 
his pledge, he felt the honor of our country had again 
been betrayed, and acting on his own discretion sent a 
trusty officer to New Orleans for the return of Wild 
Cat. General Worth by this act, not only showed the 
nobility of his own character, but proved that the savage 
heart can be touched with kindness and is always keenly 
alive to honor and faithful pledges. Moreover the 
justice of the act had much to do with the successful 
turning of the w^ar. 

When the ship, which brought the chief, reached 
Tampa, General Worth was there to meet it and publicly 
apologized to the bra\'e old warrior for the mistake 
that had been made. Our gallant commander had 
proven his humane heart, although at expense of both 
time and money. Through the policy of General 
Worth, the whole character of the war was changed. 
On the 31st of July, 1841, Wild Cat's entire band was 
encamped at Tampa, ready to be transported to their 
new homes. 

The original idea of re-enslaving the fugitives was 
abandoned. General Worth and Wild Cat now be- 
came the most ardent friends — the general consulting 
with the famous chieftain until every arrangement for 
the removal was perfected. Seeing a chief of such 
prominence yield to emigration, band after band gave 
up the fight and joined their friends at Tampa. From 



34 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

the time of Wild Cat's removal in the fall of 1841, 
until August, 1843, small bands of Indians continued 
to emigrate. Creneral Worth now advised the with- 
drawal of the troops. A few small bands throughout 
the State refused to move, signed terms of peace, how- 
ever, by which they were to confine themselves "to the 
southern portion of the Peninsula and abstain from all 
acts of aggression iipon their white neighbors." As 
vessel after vessel anchored in Tampa Bay to carr}^ 
these wronged and persecuted people to their distant 
homes, the cruelty of the undertaking was apparent to 
the most callous heart. With lingering looks the Sem- 
inoles saw the loved scenes of their childhood fade away. 
The wails and anguish of those heart-broken people, 
as the ships left the shores, touched the hearts of the 
most hardened sailor. They were leaving the graves 
of their fathers, their happy hunting grounds, beauti- 
ful flower}- Florida. But it is the destiny of the Indian. 
Among that band there was not one voluntary exile. 
Poets and artists picture the gloom, the breaking hearts 
of the French leaving Acadia ; at a later da}- the same 
sad scenes were witnessed on the Florida coast, but 
it was not until }-ears after, that a philanthropist gave 
to the world an intimation of the melancholy picture of 
these poor struggling, long hunted Seminoles leaving 
the shores of their native lands. 



Part Second. 

The Present Condition and Attitude 
of the Seminoles. 



TO-DAV, the Seminoles of Florida are a beggared 
and spectral type of a once powerful race. 
Secure in the mysterious marshes, they present 
an eloquent picture of a helpless wandering tribe. 

At the close of the war a few bands of the Indians 
refused to submit to banishment, and concealing them- 
selves in the fastnesses of the everglades, made their 
removal an impossibility. This part of the tribe, 
according to their traditions, belonged originally to the 
Aztec race, and for this reason they claim a pre- 
eminence over all the tribes of Aborigines of America. 

Though defeated in war they never submitted to 
the Government of the United States, and hence re- 
garded themselves as stronger in character, more valiant 
in defense, and more determined in purpose than that 
part of the tribe which succumbed to emigration to 
the Indian territory. An inexorable decree has forced 
the Florida Indian into the most desolate lands of the 
State. Where they once trod as masters the)' now 



36 THE SEMINOLEvS OF FLORIDA. 

fear to place foot. We cannot be nnmoved b}- the 
thought that here are the tattered and poverty 
stricken handfuls of a tribe of warriors that held at 
bay a strong government for half a century — a tribe 
that counted their cattle, their lands and their slaves in 
magnificent proportions. At the present time, to 
avoid complications with the South Florida cattle 
herders, none of the race are permitted to own cattle. 
There is a certain pathos in the Indian's story of his 
relation to the white race, which arrests our attention 
and compels sympathy. But, it is destiny ! What of 
the future ? Touch any point in the red man's history, 
where you will, or how you will, and the helpless savage 
always gets the worst of it. We judge the Indian too 
harshly. It is hard to give up old traditions, especially 
if the adherence to them means a life of ease. We are 
all in the pursuit of that which will make us happy. 
The story is the old one of the merciless extinc- 
tion of the lower race before the higher. It is a story 
of the "survival of the fittest." The Florida Indian 
can go no further. An old anecdote is brought to light 
which illustrates the Indian's own view of the case. 
The famous Seneca chief. Red Jacket, once met a 
government agent, and after pleasant greetings, they 
both sat down on a log, when Red Jacket asked the 
agent to "move along." The agent did so and the 
chief followed. This was done several times, the 
agent humoring the whim of the old chief, until he 
had reached the end of the log, when the same re- 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINOLES. 37 

quest — "move along," was repeated. "Why man," 
angrily replied the agent. "I can't move along further 
without getting off the log into the mud." "Ugh! 
Just so white man want Indian to move along — move 
along; can't go no further, yet he say move along." 
And so with the Seminole to-day. The clearings the>- 
have made in the forests, and the only homes they have 
ever known have been bought from the State by spec- 
ulators and they are compelled to "move along." The 
history of the western Indian as he sells or surrenders 
the heart of his great reservation proves that the white 
man will have his way. The broken treaties of the 
past the Seminole has not forgotten. The old chiefs 
are as proud as the most imperious king. They re- 
gard these lands as their own, and cannot understand 
the government's claim. They say, "what right has 
the big white chief at Washington to give to us what 
is already ours — the lands of our fathers?" The white 
man who receives any confidence from the Florida 
Indian, must indeed possess great magnetism, for the 
Seminole is suspicious of every overture and will mis- 
lead his questioner on all occasions. And while the 
white man is studying "poorLo," "poor Lo" is similarly 
engaged in studying him, and continually revolving 
in his suspicious mind, "what can the pale face want 
from the Indian any way?" 

The chiefs have taught the young braves all about 
the outrages perpetrated upon their tribe by unscrup- 
ulous agents during the wars ; and while the Indians 



38 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

themselves, in many cases practiced cruelty, it was 
always in retaliation for some grievous wrong of anterior 
date. History records case after case of robberies and 
enormities committed on the Seminoles previous to the 
war and during its progress. Micanopy requested a 
lawyer to draw a form of writing for him which soon 
after proved to be a conveyance of a valuable tract of 
land!!! Afterwards the war whoop and the deadly 
hand of Micanopy was heard and felt among the 
swamps and prairies. 

In the mutual relations between the whites and 
the Indians, it requires no skilled advocate to show on 
which side must lie the wrongs unrepaired and un- 
avenged. Without doubt the Indian has always been 
the victim. One thing is certain, the Indian chiefs, 
when fairly dealt with, have always evinced an earnest 
desire to make just terms. Ever since the Caucasian 
landed on the shores of America, a white man with a 
gun has been watching the Indian. Four centuries 
have gone and with them a record of broken treaties and 
violated pledges. The records of the Indian Bureau 
support the statement, that before the first half of the 
present century had passed, we had broken seven solemn 
treaties with the Creeks, eleven with the Cherokees; 
the Chickasaws and Choctaws suffered too, sa^'inof 
nothing of smaller tribes. History reveals how well 
the Delawares fought for us in the revolutionary war. 
They were brave "allies," fighting out of loyalty to 
the "Alliance," and inspired by the promised reward, 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINOLES. 39 

viz: The "territorial right to a State as large as 
Pennsylvania and a right to representation in onr 
Congress." Bnt where are the Delawares to-day? One 
remove after another was made until we find only a 
remnant existing — some with the Cherokees, and a few 
with the Wichita agency. 

A great deal has been written about the Florida 
Indian which is not in accordance with facts. There 
are man}- obstacles in the way of an intimate acquaint- 
ance with their customs and home life. Living as 
they do in the almost inaccessible morasses, their con- 
tact with civilization has been regulated by their own 
volition. Visitors, traders and government agents have 
been denied their confidence, and it is only on their 
visits to settlements for the purpose of trading that 
they meet the white man. At such times the Seminole 
is on the alert, ever suspicious, and to the numerous 
interrogations applied to him by the inquisitive strang- 
er, his answer is an indifferent — "me don't know." 

The Seminoles live to themselves, shun all inti- 
macy with the Caucasian, and their personal appear- 
ance is therefore almost unknown to Americans. 
The greater part of the tribe seldom, if ever, leave 
their marshy homes. To reach their camps uninhabit- 
able wilds must be traversed and sometimes miles of 
mud and water waded, then, perhaps, only to find the 
camp deserted. For, while the Seminole has regular 
settlements, at various times during the year the entire 
camp will assemble at some point where game is 



40 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

abundant and a "big hunt" will occupy a few weeks. 
Again syrup boiling will be the festival all will join in ; 
at another time a large quantity of Koonti (wild cassava) 
will be made into flour. At these gatherings the tribe 
or families occupy temporary dwellings called lodges. 
The innate dislike of the Seminole towards strangers 
is his hardest prejudice to overcome ; yet he is hospitable 
when he convinces himself that the visitor is no govern- 
ment agent, nor comes for any mercenary motive. The 
person who is fortunate enough to reach their hunting 
grounds, secure their confidence, obser^^'e their weird 
home life and their childish untutored ways, meets with 
an attractive spectacle of romance and may study these 
aborigines in their primeval customs. For to-day, with 
the exception of the chiefs and a few of the adventure- 
some warriors, they know nothing of the innovations 
of the last half century. So strong are they in their 
resolution to hold no intercourse with our nation, that 
neither bribery nor cajolery will have any effect upon 
them. A few years ago an effort was made by the 
authorities of the Sub-Tropical Exposition at Jackson- 
ville, Florida, to secure a few of the Seminole braves 
for exhibition. After many proffered bribes, the young 
warriors with the adventurous spirit of youth consented 
to go to the " big city." A council was held and the 
chiefs said " halwuk (it is bad) : if you go von never 
come back." The council of the chiefs is always 
respected and the young braves remained with their 
fathers. The Indians in Florida number about 600. 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINOLES. 41 

The\' live in tribes apart, each independent of the other, 
but in friendly relation. 

The life of the Seminole has been without any aid 
or instruction from the white man. He has adopted 
a few of the implements, weapons and utensils ot 
civilization ; but in no other wa}- has he imitated his 
pale faced brother. In the natural course of evolution 
he has made some progress — he has not degenerated. 

Government reports show^ an annual appropriation 
of almost $7,000,000 for the Indian service; yet the 
Florida Indian has not received any part of it, and with- 
out it he has shown a prosperous condition. The 
Smithsonian report, in comparing this interesting 
people with the native white settlers, says, "that suc- 
cess in agriculture and domestic industries is not to 
be attributed wholh- to the favorable character of the 
climate and soil ; for, surrounded by the same con- 
ditions, many white men are lazy and improvident, 
while the Seminoles are industrious and frugal." 

President Cleveland in his message for 1895 per- 
tinently says, " In these days, when white agriculturists 
and stock raisers of experience and intelligence find 
their lot a hard one, we ought not to expect Indians to 
support themselves on lands usually allotted to them." 
Yet in Florida, we find the red race not only self- 
sustaining, but refusing any aid from our Government. 
Several years ago, the Government appropriated 
$6,000, "to enable the Seminoles of Florida to obtain 
homesteads upon the public lands, and to establish 



42 THE SEMINOr.ES OF FI.ORIDA. 

themselves thereon." A few of the Indians con- 
sented to accept; but the agent, on investigation, 
fonnd that the lands which the Indians desired 
had passed into State or Improvement Companies. 
To-day the Seminole is embittered; and, having 
been driven from one reservation to another, he 
refuses to exchange " Indian's good lands for white 
man's bad lands," and in the bitterness of his conquered 
spirit, takes his dusky tribe to the dark shadows of the 
cypress swamps, where no pale faced government 
officer dare disturb him. Again Congress tacked an 
item to the appropriation act giving $6,000 " for the 
support of the Seminoles of Florida, for the erection 
and furnishing of a school, for teachers and the fur- 
nishing of seeds and implements for agricultural 
purposes." In the winter of 1889, an agent inspired 
with confidence in himself, and with the hope of 
manipulating a $12,000 appropriation, came to Florida 
by appointment from Washington to renew the effort, 
"to find suitable lands upon which to settle the Indians, 
and to furnish the seat of an educational establishment." 
Securing an interpreter the agent visited the Indian 
camp. A council of chiefs listened quietly to his 
overtures, but wath the same proud spirit of Osceola's 
day, they refused firmly to accept any aid from a 
Government which they regard as having stolen from 
them the lands of their fathers. As the agent dwelt 
on the presents the red men of Florida should receive 
from the big white chief. Tiger Tail, a worthy de- 



ftw: 



'^ 







THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINOLES. 43 

sceiidant of the invulnerable Tnslenuggee replied, "You 
came from Great Chief? You say Great Chief give 
Indian plow, wagon, hoe? " then pointing in the 
direction of a small settlement of shiftless whites, he 
added, " he poor man, give 'em to him. Indian no 
want 'em." Delivering his speech with the spirit of 
an old Norse king the chief strode majesticalh- away, 
leaving the agent no nearer the fulfillment of his trust. 
At present, howe\-er, there is_ an Indian agency in 
Florida which was established in May, 1892. The 
agency is located East of Fort IMyers, and about 35 
miles from the nearest Indian camp, and is supported 
by a yearly appropriation of $6,000. The appropri- 
ation act reads, "for the support, civilization and 
instruction of the Seminole Indians in Florida, $6,000, 
one half of which sum may be expended in the 
discretion of the Secretary of the Interior in procuring 
permanent homes for said Indians." Little progress 
so far has been made. Five years ago the Government 
built a saw mill, and attempted a school, but the Indians, 
according to the statement of Col. C. C. Duncan, U. S. 
Indian Inspector, to a Times-Union reporter, refuse to 
send their children to the school or to work the saw 
mill. Man)' white traders who purchase hides, plumes 
and furs from the Indians, tell them that the establish- 
ment of an agency is for the purpose of rounding them 
up and sending them West. These Indians have been 
cheated and baffled so often by knaves, who go among 
them for that purpose, that they imagine all whites to 



44 THE SRMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

be of the same character, and cannot tell whether a 
" talk " conies from their great father at Washington, 
or whether some impostor be imposing upon them for 
his own gains ; hence the Seminole never removes his 
cloak of suspicion. 

The Government has recently purchased four 
sections of land, in a cypress swamp about seventy-five 
miles from Fort Myers, for these Indians. The price 
paid for said lands is $2,600. 

President Cleveland in his message on the Indian 
question wisely and humanely says, "I am convinced 
that the proper solution of the Indian problem and the 
success of every step taken in that direction depend to 
a very large extent upon the intelligence and honesty 
of the reservation agents and on the interest they have 
in their work. An agent fitted for his place can do 
much towards preparing the Indians for citizenship, 
and his advice as to any matter concerning their wel- 
fare will not mislead." An appropriation of $6,000 
may seem small for an Indian agency, yet properly ex- 
pended good results should follow. The Seminoles are 
prosperous and industrious, and, aside from providing 
them with suitable lands, they need nothing more 
than civilizing Christian influence. Work in this 
direction has been undertaken and a part of this 
Florida field is now being occupied, for the first time, 
by a mission under the auspices of the Episcopal 
church. While the results so far accomplished are not 
what might be wished, yet they are of an encouraging 



THE PRESENT CONDITIONS OF THE SEMINOLES. 45 

nature. The friendship and confidence of the Indians 
is gradually being secured, which is the chief requisite 
to the desired results. 

We cannot but admire the proud and independent 
spirit of the Seminole as he refuses, in firm but Indian- 
like measures, the proff-ered liberality of a Government 
which he believes has wronged him. And, from his 
high pinnacle of pride, he certainly bears the distinc- 
tion of being the only American who has been found 
unwilling to share the spoils of the nation. So he says, 
''We have listened to the great father at Washington. 
The great spirit wishes no change in his red children. 
If yo\i teach our children the knowledge of the white 
people, they will cease to be Indians. To know how 
to read and write is very good for white men, but very 
bad for red men. Long time ago, some of our fathers 
wrote upon a little piece of paper without the nation 
knowing anything about it. When the agent called 
the Indians together he told them the little paper was a 
treaty which their brethren had made with the great 
father at Washington, and lo! they found that their 
brethren bv knowing how to write had sold their lands 
and the graves of their fathers to the white race. Tell 
our great father at Washington that we want no 
schools, neither books, for reading and writmg 
makes very bad Indians. We are satisfied. Let us a 
alone." After this speech delivered in the native 
tonc^ue the council breaks up, and the proud Seminole 
betakes himself to the Everglades. The Seminole is 



4^ THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

disposed to make a child's bargain with the big white 
chief. "You let me alone, and I will let von alone." 
Photographs of the Carlisle Indian ' bo3-s have 
been used to illustrate the improvement which follows 
education; but the Seminole youth turns awav with 
disdain, as he notes the closely shaven head and the 
American dress, and says, "Indian no want books, 
make 'em white man, white man mean heap— lie toJ 
much." With a gesture faithful to the Indian, he refers 
to the "long time ago, Seminoles had lands, cattle 
slaves, white man steal 'em." This statement of the 
Indians is corroborated by the old white settlers of to- 
day, who fought the Indians. They tell that General 
Jessup's army, on coming to the great cattle country of 
, South Florida, began a systematic slaughter of all the 
cattle found. A bod>' of soldiers, too large to fear an 
attack would round up a herd of the Indian's cattle 
and sitting on their horses shoot them all down. Up 
to this time the Indians were regular stock dealers, 
their customers being the Cubans and the Minorcans.' 
General Jessup's report of his march into the " Indian 
country" says, "On the 28th (January, 1837,) the 
army moved forward and occupied a strong position on 
'Ta-hop-ka-li-ga' Lake, where several hundred head of 
cattle zvere obtained^ 

The tribe to-day are taught by the chiefs to re- 
gard the whites, in general, as lacking in honor and 
courage, weak and insignificant, or in Seminole dialect, 
" white man— ho-lo-wa-gus," (no good). This is easily 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINOLES. 47 

understood when we consider the strong attachment an 
Indian bears to his native hunting grounds ; and when 
the menior\- runs back to the time when our Go\'ern- 
ment banished their friends and relatives to the un- 
known wilds of the West, and they went silent and 
weeping towards the setting Sun. Their bitterness is 
consistent with their ideas of injustices practiced upon 
them. 

History, romance and poetry have embodied the 
characteristics of tlie red man to our perceptions from 
childhood. And while treachery may be a distinguish- 
ing feature of the Indian nature, yet the lowest one of 
them has some conception of honor when fairly 
approached. Histor>- shows that all through the 
Seminole war, misrepresentations and dishonorable 
schemes were practiced against them by the whites. 
Almost universal sympathy goes out to this remnant of 
a people who fought so bra\'ely and so persistently for 
the land of their birth, for their homes, for the burial 
place of their kindred. As their traditions tell them 
of the oppression their people suffered as they wander- 
ed in the wilderness thrice forty years, who can tell the 
secret of their hearts ? To do this, it would be neces- 
sary to become, for the time, an Indian, to put our- 
selves in his place — and what white man has ever done 
this? Ask the waters of Tohopeliga, or the winds that 
waft across Okeechobee. To the elements are whis- 
pered the heart throbs of these red fawns of the forest. 
The present Florida Indians are descendants of that 



48 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

invincible tribe who were never conquered by the force 
of arms. Refusing in 1842 to accompany their people 
to the m>'sterious West, they ceased to exist save for 
themselves. Finding refuge in the almost inaccessible 
Everglades, they were for a time almost lost to the 
historian. They have no legal existence, and hence 
no rights that a white man is bound, by law, to respect. 
There are no Indian troubles in Florida at present, but 
every few months a cry comes from hungry land 
grabbers, or from trappers and hunters, that the Sem- 
inoles are killing off the deer and plume birds. The 
changing condition in the lower peninsular countr)- will 
eventually lead up to difficulties; and "where shall we 
locate the Indians?" becomes a serious problem. 

The Florida Times- Union editorially says, "All 
the murderous, cut-throat, unkempt and squalid Indians 
in the United States, whom the Government fears, are 
provided with reservations and such luxuries as they 
never before had in their lives, but the Seminoles of 
Florida, the finest specimens of Indian manhood in 
this countr>-, clean in body, pure in morals, and as 
brave as the lion that roams the desert, with whom so 
many treaties have been wantonly broken, are being 
driven farther and farther into the Everglades and their 
hunting grounds confiscated to the land grabbers. Is 
this justice? " 

Should the whites drive off the Seminoles, and 
thus approve their greed for land by taking the pos- 
sessions the Indians now occupy, what good would it 



THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SEMINOI.ES. 49 

do them ? Internal improvement companies, by their 
franchises, wonld sooner or later take the blood-stained 
acres from them. Let settlers in Florida, or in any 
part of the country, turn over their accounts and see 
how many acres have been credited to them, either 
from the State or from the general Government, without 
the equivalent of homesteading or for cash. The 
'' Western " style of disposing of the Indian's inherit- 
ance must not be followed in fair Florida. It seems 
hard that these natives who ask no aid of our nation, 
should be forced to the wall by the march of civiliza- 
tion. To the Western Indians, under the protection of 
the Government, and supplied in a large measure by 
the taxes which civilization pays, pages are devoted by 
philanthropists for the betterment of their condition. 
The rights of the Seminoles of Florida should be 
defended. The day is not far distant when they must 
be made to go to the reservation in Arkansas or to 
lands set apart for them in Florida. To remove them 
from their tropical homes to the chilling blasts of the 
Indian Territory would be an act of cruelty and wholly 
imnecessary. Those of us who have enjoyed life in 
this land of the palm, this land of the balmy air and 
life-giving sunshine, reveled in the eternal bloom of 
the flowers and the ceaseless song of the birds, can well 
picture the struggle it would cost the patient Seminole 
to be forced to a cold western land. No, fair Florida, 
the ancestors of these proud people were forced to the 
country of the setting sun silent and dejected. But, 



50 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

with the spirit of Osceola, if they must perish, it will 
be here — here upon the land of their birth, upon the 
graves of their kindred. The lands they now occupy 
are of little value to the white race and might be made 
a safe reserve for them — forever. Cow boys who hunt 
upon the Okeechobee plains, say the Indians are peace- 
ably disposed and friendly, and have never yet disturbed 
or threatened. They are certainly not foot sore for the 
war path and are fearful of doing any thing to arouse 
the whites. " Indian no fight," is the answer to the 
questioner. They have sense enough to know that if 
war should come again it would mean extermination 
for them ; and their love for the " Flower Land " is so 
deep that the thought of exile would cost a struggle 
they dare not attempt. Yet, feeble remnant as they are, 
with the same heroic blood coursing their veins that 
inspired their ancestors and made them almost invul- 
nerable, the present Seminole would choose to die 
rather than submit to removal. And in their swampy 
fastnesses, they could maintain a contest that would 
cost us thousands of dollars and many precious lives. 

Our Duty to these Wards of the Nation. 

Under the present status the Seminoles are pros- 
perous, happy and contented. But the vanguard of 
civilization is marching on, and thinking friendly 
minds must solve the question of the protection of this 
remnant of a tribe we have dispossessed of their natural 
rights. Dwellers of every land, from Scandinavia to 



OUR DUTY TO THESE WARDS OF THE NATION 51 

Japan have a Christian welcome to our shores. The 
shims of Europe pour in upon us to fill our almshouses 
and to be supported by our taxes. We have, during 
the past quarter centur}', contributed more than 
$5,000,000 to the education of the freedmen ; yet, except 
in individual cases, the improvement is scarcely notice- 
able. Men and women are sacrificing their lives for 
the heathen of other lands. 

Christianity is donating millions of money to this 
end, while our own " wards," too many of them, are 
vet living in the dark superstitions of their fathers. 
It is possible it wnll take time and patience before any 
shining results are apparent. Not until confidence is 
restored will the embittered Seminole yield to the 
overtures of our Government. In an educational sense 
the older Indians will not be benefitted, except through 
the influence of their children. The logic of events 
demands absorption of this people into our National 
life, not as Indians, but as American citizens ; and the 
sooner they can be induced to accept lands from the 
Government, and education for the }'outh, the sooner 
will the civilization of the Seminole cease to be a 
theory. The permanent duty of the hour is to prepare 
the rising generation for the new order of events that 
must come. Because these bands of the Seminoles 
are prouder, more invincible than the old Saxons, 
because they are savages, yet heroes many of them, all 
the good of life should not be withheld from them. It 
has taken years of labor to obtain the shining of even 



52 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

the few rays of light that relieve the gloom of the 
heathen countries of the Orient. It would be unreason- 
able to expect the offspring of savages to attain in a 
short time to anything like the thrift of a Nation like 
ours. Yet, with a few years of humane treatment, 
unviolated pledges, with Christian and patriotic 
examples set before them, this little band of Florida 
Indians would become worthy representatives of this 
fair land. 

Were any future danger to threaten the United 
States, the Seminoles would be found to be brave allies. 
The pledge to General Worth by this remnant of 
hostiles, who in 1842 refused to emigrate with the rest 
of their tribe, temporarily agreeing " to confine them- 
selves to certain limits and abstain from all aggressions 
upon their white neighbors," seems to be held sacred 
by their descendants. Putting the question to Billy 
Bowlegs, one of the most intelligent of the present 
Indians, as to what his people would do were the 
whites to encroach, and take the clearings his tribe are 
now occupying — " Would Indian fight ? " The young 
brave replied with downcast face, " Indian no fight, 
Indian no kill, Indian go." Pursuing the subject 
further—" but Billy, by and by, may be one year, five 
years, may be, white man go, take all your land, take 
Okeechobee, then where will Indians go ? " With the 
same bowed head, the answer came low and soft, " me 
don't know— Indian go." Then to test his idea of an 
ally the question was asked, "what would Seminole 



OUR DUTY TO THESE WARDS OF THE NATION. 53 

Indians do, Billy, if the Spaniards from across the big 
salt water should come to fight the white people of 
Florida ? Quickly and with spirit came the answer, 
" Indians help white man to fight." Unless action be 
taken, there will come a time, when, leaving no trace 
behind him, the Seminole shall pass out of the world — 
he shall go, like the mist. 

We cannot undo the past, but the future is in the 
hands of the people. In Canada there are over 100,000 
Indians. They are called the Indian subjects of Her 
Majesty ; all held amenable to the law and protected by 
it. Statistics show that on one side of the line the 
nation has spent millions of money in Indian wars, 
while on the other, with the same greedy Anglo-Saxon 
race, not one dollar has been spent, and there has never 
been a massacre. 

The caustic remark that the only good Indian is a 
dead Indian, might apply to the savage Apache ; but 
when one has studied the home life of the Seminoles, 
observed their domestic felicity, from which many white 
men might take example, noted their peaceful, content- 
ed character, he can only see in them an attractive 
race, and worthy the proud lineage they claim. Surely 
if ever the strong were bound to aid the weak, we are 
bound to help them, to treat them as human beings, 
possessed of human rights and deserving the protection 
of American law. This without doubt they will be 
willing to accept, when our nation by kind, courteous 
and honorable means secures their lost confidence ; and 



54 THE SEMINOLEvS OF FLORIDA. 

when our national Christianity shall take measures to 
make our land for them a home where the)' may dwell 
in peace and safety. 

Talla-hassee. 

Almost four hundred years have passed since that 
fair April day when Ponce de Leon anchored on the 
verdant shores of Florida. Since the Spanish cavalier 
planted the silken flag of Spain upon her soil, Florida 
has been surrounded by a halo of romance and tragedy. 
Between the time of her discovery and to-day, what 
marvelous scenes have been witnessed upon her fair 
plains and along the borders of her wild dark rivers. 

The ancient race who greeted the old Castilian has 
vanished and, save in the little band of Seminoles 
secreted in the mysterious and weird wilderness of the 
Everglades, no trace of the red man is visible. A de- 
scription of a type of this fragment of a people will 
enable the reader to form a better conception of the 
tribe as a whole ; and no name is more worthy a place 
in these pages than that of Talla-hassee. 

The old chieftain in appearance is noble and intel- 
lectual, and there is that in his look and bearing which 
at once pronounces him something more than the mere 
leader of a savage tribe. While his silvered head 
marks the cycle of many years, in his attire of scarlet 
and white, embraced by the traditional brightly beaded 
sash, he exhibits a dignified and patriarchal bearing. 
His countenance, while indeed mellowed with the cares 



TALIvA-HASSEE. 55 

of three score years and ten, is kindly and shows a 
conquered spirit. The lineaments of noble features 
are traceable in the broad forehead, the firm thin lips 
and eyes that might pierce the rays of the sun. Talla- 
hassee shows no resentment to the whites, yet he be- 
lieves they have treated the Indian badly. 

When Osceola, with his compatriots went on the 
war path, Talla-hassee was a small boy and remembers 
well when his father and a few companions were sur- 
rounded and killed by the soldiers near Talla-hassee, 
the capital of the State. Chipco, the chief of the tribe, 
was Talla-hassee's uncle; he escaped from the soldiers 
and made his way to the Everglades where he lived to 
be nearly one hundred years old. Rosa, the sister of 
Talla-hassee became his squaw. They were childless, 
and at Chipco's death Talla-hassee inherited the title, 
but as a reward for bravery displayed in saving his life 
on two occasions, Chipco had made him chief years 
before he died. 

There is no trace of a revengeful spirit in either 
word or manner when Talla-hassee speaks of his father's 
tragic death, but with the stoicism of a philosopher, he 
seems to have accepted it as one of the cruel fortunes 
of war, and has nobly "buried the tomahawk." Talla- 
hassee is no stern warrior with blood stained hands, 
but wears worthily the dignities of his ancestral station 
and in many ways might be imitated with profit by his 
more cultured pale faced brother. He is a true type of 
the "noble red man" and in any other walk of life 



56 THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

would have risen to eminence. Of all the Seminoles, 
Talla-hassee is the most friendly to the whites. With 
the inborn courtesy that is native to all true greatness, 
this untutored Indian will welcome you to his wigwam 
and with royal grace dispense the hospitalities at his 
command. Few enter his presence, and none leave it 
without this mental tribute to his high character. The 
old chief is treated with care and consideration, and a 
homage is paid him by the younger members of the 
band. Among the Seminoles, when a member of the 
tribe becomes too old for usefulness or self-help, it be- 
comes the duty of the young men to contribute their 
share to his support. They are taught to do this more 
as an honor than as a burden. 

Increasing. 

It is generally believed that the Seminoles are 
dying off, and can last but a few years longer. On the 
contrary, they have large families of strong healthy 
children, and the past ten years has shown a marked 
increase in their number. The strict law allowing no 
persons of a like gens to marry is a reason why the 
tribe does not multiply still more rapidly. There are 
instances where eligible young men find great difficulty 
in getting a wife because of the strictness governing 
the gens or consanguinity law. One chief has two 
daughters who find the same trouble in getting married 
because the men of their choice are too closely con- 
nected to them. Thus a member of the Deer clan 



INCREASING. 57 

may not marry into the same clan, no difference how 
far removed the relationship may be. Relationship on 
the father's side is not gnarded against so strenuonsly, 
as the gens is all counted through the mother. Very 
often the law of marriage causes strange alliances — 
young men twenty years of age havir.g very old women 
for wives. From the best obtainable resources, there 
were in the year 1859 only one hundred and twelve 
Indians left in Florida. In 1880 by actual count, as 
reported by the Smithsonian Institute, the Seminoles 
of Florida numbered two hundred and eight. According 
to data gotten from the Indians themselves the tribe 
to-day numbers nearly six hundred. Of this number a 
great proportion are young children, or in the language 
of the chief as he made a numerical calculation of the 
members of the different families— "heap piccaninnies, 
piccaninnies ojus " (plenty). The Seminoles are divided 
into four bands, who live in groups apart; each 
independent of the other, but in friendly relation. 
They are the Miami Indians, the Big C)'press band, the 
Talla-hassees and the Okeechobees. Since the death of 
Woxo-mic-co (Great Chief) five years ago, no one has 
been elected to fill his place, and it is doubtful if his 
office will ever be filled. 

No event in the history of the Seminole since the 
closing of the war, has been more tragic than the 
slaughter of eight of the band, by the hand of Jim 
Jumper, a half-breed belonging to the tribe. The 
killing occurred in February, 1891. According to the 



5^ THK SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

Indians, the negro had bought some bad whiske)- from a 
white trader, and it made him " crazy too much in 
his head "—doubtless delirium tremens. With his 
Winchester in his hand he started out. The first victim 
was his faithful squaw who happened to be close by. 
Rushing forward and through the camp, and meeting 
the venerable Woxo-mic-co, head chief over all the tribe'', 
who was on a visit to the Cow Creek band from his 
council lodge at Miami, the crazy half-breed sent a ball 
through the old chief's head, killing him instantlv. 
Old Tom Tiger, one of the land marks of the Indian 
wars, hearing the firing came to the rescue, but was 
shot down before he had time to interpose. Young 
Tiger, stepping out of the wigwam in time to see his 
father fall to the ground, with a blood curdling war 
whoop sprang upon the maniac and a hand-to-hand 
fight ensued ; but he was at the wrong end of the rifle, 
and before he could wrest it from his antagonist 
another report was followed b>' the death cry of the brave 
young Indian. The wildest panic ensued— the women 
and children huddling in their wigwams or fleeing to 
the woods. The murderer now rushed into the 
wigwam of his sister, and with his knife murdered her 
and her two little children who were clinging to her 
dress in terror. Brandishing his knife he started into 
the woods, where he was killed by a bullet from Billy 
Martin's rifle. The wailing and the anguish in that 
camp can better be imagined than described. After 
the burial ceremony over the murdered victims, the 



APPEARANCE AND DREvSS. 59 

body of the murderer was dragged far into the swamp, 
to be fed upon by the vultures. Thus passed away in 
less than half an hour eight innocent lives, victims to 
the demoralizing influence of the white man's whisky. 
The Indian village was broken up, the entire band 
moving away to escape the visitations of the spirits of 
the murdered ones. 

On the death of Woxo-micco, four candidates 
for the position of Big Chief appeared, but five years 
have passed and yet no chief has been elected. In 
the old chieftain's death the last vestige of Seminole 
war spirit is obliterated. Nowhere in their histor>^ is 
their determination to live at peace with their white 
neighbors more conclusively proven than in the aboli- 
tion of the office of Great Chief, "Big Chief" and 
war councils, in their minds, being inseparable. 

The authority of the sub-chiefs, who are leaders 
of the different bands, is purely personal ; they cannot 
decree punishment — a jur>' or council alone can do 
this. The Government is not harsh, and there is as 
much freedom as could be possible in these forest 
homes. 

Appearance and Dress. 

In personal appearance, many a Seminole brave 
might be taken as a t>-pe of physical excellence. He 
is bright copper in color, is over six feet in height, his 
carriage is self-reliant, deliberate and strong. His step 
has all the lightness and elasticity that natiu'e and 



^° THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

practice can combine to produce— as lithe and soft as 
the tread of a tiger. The Yale, the Harvard or the 
Oxford student with years of training in the athletic 
school, would be but a novice in the art of grace, 
suppleness and mode of walking, as compared with this 
son of the forest. His features are regular, his eyes 
jet black and vigilant, always on the alert; his nose is 
straight but slightly broadened, his mouth firm as a 
stoic's. The hair is cut close to the head, except the 
traditional scalp lock of his fathers, which is plaited 
and generally concealed under the large turban that 
adorns his head. 

The dress of the Seminole chief consists of a 
tunic embraced by a bright sash, close fitting leggins of 
deer skin, which are embellished with delicately cut 
thongs of the same material, that hang in graceful 
lines from the waist to the ankle where they meet the 
moccasin. The moccasin is also made of deer skin 
and covers a foot shapely and smaller than that of the 
average white man. A picturesque feature of the dress 
is the turban. Oriental in its effect, it has become the 
emblem of the race. It is worn almost constantly ;, 
and is made impromptu from shawls or colossal hand- 
kerchiefs wrapped round and round the head and then 
secured in shape by a band, often made of beaten 
silver which encircles the whole with brilliant effect. 
With young braves the more important the occasion,, 
the more enormous the turban. Another characteristic 
of the dress is the number of handkerchiefs worn. 



APPEARANCE AND DREvSvS. 6i 

knotted loosely about the neck. Regardless of the 
temperature, the Indian adorns himself with six, eight 
or perhaps a dozen of bright bandannas, exhibiting 
great pride in the number he possesses. A belt made 
of buckskin completes the costume. From this are 
suspended a hunting knife, a revolver, a pouch in which 
is carried the ammunition and small articles necessary 
for the chase. 

The physique of the women will compare favor- 
ably with that of the men. They are healthy and 
robust, and among the younger members some comely 
well-featured women are found. The dress of the 
squaw is very simple, consisting of a straight, full skirt, 
made long enough to hide the feet. The upper part of 
the dress is a long sleeved, loose fitting waist, which fails 
to meet the waist band of the skirt by about two inches ; 
this oddly fashioned garment is cut large enough in the 
neck to be put on or taken off over the head. A large 
collar, fashioned after the collarettes worn by the 
fashionables of the season of 1896, completes the toilet. 
A Seininole woman wears no head dress of any de- 
scription. Even when visiting the white settlements 
they go with their heads uncovered. Neither do they 
wear the moccasins, at home or abroad, in winter or in 
summer. They are always bare-footed. 

Vanity and coquetry are inborn in the female 
character. The Seminole maiden whose life has been 
spent among the swamps "far from the madding" 
crowd and fashion's emporium still practices the arts of 



62 THE SEMINOLES OF FI.ORIDA. 

her pale faced sister. She affects the bang and the 
psyche knot with as much ease as the New York belle, 
and with such metropolitan airs soon captivates her 
forest lover. The same passionate desire for gold and 
jewels, ever uppermost in the heart of the civilized 
white woman, be she peasant or queen, shows itself in 
the Seminole squaw. Silver breast-plates, made from 
quarters and half dollars, beaten into various designs 
add to their personal adornment on festal occasions. 
What the turban is to the brave, such is the necklace 
of beads to the woman. It is her chief glory and is 
worn constantly. Her ambition seems to be to gather 
as many strings of these brightly colored beads about 
the neck as she can carry, often burdening herself with 
several pounds. Even the wee tots are adorned with 
small strings of the much prized necklace. 

A few years ago, chief Talla-hassee with two or 
three of the squaws visited Kissimmee. Being taken 
into a room to see a newly born babe, he directed a 
squaw to take from her neck a string of beads and put 
it around the neck of the "little white pappoose.'^ 
This was done as an act of greatest honor, to show 
the Indian's appreciation of hospitalities received at 
this house. 

Independence and Honor. 

To-day as we meet the Seminole "at home," we 
find the wigwam made of palmetto leaves and the skins 
of wild animals ; the floor of this structure is made of 



INDEPENDENCE AND HONOR. 63 

split logs and elevated about two feet above the ground. 
A few of the Indians have in late years built board 
houses, but the roof is made of palmetto thatch. Here, 
surrounded by the gloom and weirdness of the Ever- 
glades, miles from white man's habitation, the baying 
of the alligator, the hooting of the great horn owl and 
the croaking of the heron are the only sounds to be 
heard. Truly the picture is one of melancholy and 
profound dreariness. But here we find the Aborigines 
contented because they are out of the white man's 
power. Here they hold their councils, here around the 
camp fires the traditions of the old turbaned tribe are 
taught to the youths; here too they follow the same 
customs of the race of one hundred years ago. Here 
is instilled into the youth the story of the perfidies 
practiced upon their fathers by the white man ; and as 
the children listen to the glories of Osceola, and the 
tragic ending of their hero, the spirit of conservatism 
is engendered, and with swelling hearts they go on, on, 
resolute in their determination to avoid disaster, by 
keeping aloof from the white man. Although far 
from the influence of civilization, knowledge has come 
to these people naturally which we have painfully 
acquired by books. Driven to these Florida Jungles 
after a seven years bloody war, here the Seminole, 
thrown absolutely upon his own resources has contin- 
ued to dwell. He has accepted no aid, his people have 
increased, and in a manner have prospered. No alms- 
houses are supported for their benefit. This independ- 



64 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

eiit Indian does not increase the expense of the jail 
nor the penitentiary' ; he is no starving Indian who 
ninst be fed at the expense of the Government. In 
these red sons of the forest we meet the original "real 
Indian," unchanged by contact with the white man. 
The visitor to the "Wild West," who complains that 
"the Indians do not look like the Indians of fifty years 
ago " would have little ground for his complaint were 
he to visit the Seminoles in their marshy fastnesses. 
Florida can boast of one of the few tribes of "real 
Indians" in the United States. The present Seminole 
must be credited with a high sense of honor ; and he 
can keep a pledge as well as did Massasoit. A few 
years ago during a terrific coast storm some Indian braves 
asked shelter of a Florida settler. The Indians were 
received and entertained until the weather settled. On 
leaving, the chief sweeping his hand towards the broad 
Savannah, said, "Captian, hunt deer?" The answer 
was — "sometimes." "Indian no hunt Captain's deer" 
was the rejoinder. Very little in itself, but it meant 
much, for since that time there has not been an Indian 
hunter within miles of the place. 

Famed in song and story is the pledge of the old 
turbaned tribe of the Seminoles. Not more worthy 
are they of commemoration than their descendants of 
to-day. A few months ago, Billy Bowlegs and Tommy 
Doctor paid an unexpected visit to Kissimmee. They 
walked from their camp at Okeechobee Marsh, a 
distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles to tell 




Billy Bowlegs. 



Tonirav Doctor. 



¥ 



ENDURANCE AND FEASTS. 65 



their white friend that " Indian no lie." This was all. 
They apparently had no other business in town, and 
after a few hours visit left as quietly as they had come. 
Their mission was completed — their white brother 
believed them, their honor was clear — they could 
now dance at the Green Corn Dance with merry 
hearts. 

A few months prior to this, these Indians had 
promised their white friend to act as guide on a bear 
hunt in the Everglades. All arrangements had been 
made for the hunt, except to fix the time and place of 
meeting. This was to be done through a white settler. 
Later, plans for the hunt were perfected and word was 
sent to the Indian village. According to their promise 
the Indians came to the settler's home on the day 
specified, but found that the white man had left his 
house early in the morning with no message as to how 
or where the Indians should follow. The Indians, not 
knowing which way to go to find the part)', could do 
nothing but return to their camp — a distance of forty 
or fiftv miles. Subsequent developments proved that 
the white man wished to act as guide, and thereby earn 
for himself the remuneration he expected the Indians 
would receive. 

Endurance and Feasts. 

When one sees the great moral strength of the 
Seminoles, notes the wonderful physical endurance of 
which they are capable, observes the fearless, haughty 



66 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

courage they displa}', he cannot but be surprised that 
the Florida wars were not more disastrous than they 
were, or that any of the Seminoles ever yielded to 
removal. To test their endurance the old chiefs have 
been known to take a live coal from the camp fire, 
place it on the wrist and without an emotion let it 
burn until the heat was exhausted. Tustenuggee would 
remove the cool ember and quietly reach down and put 
a fresh one in its place. This old chief, so famous in 
history, never yielded to removal and lived till a few 
years ago with his tribe in the Everglades. The goal 
of the Seminole is to learn to endure and to achieve. 
To this end is every Seminole boy educated, and 
different modes of developing the powers of endurance 
are employed. Carrying a deer for a long distance 
without fatigue, walking or running for many miles, 
jumping, wrestling, poling a canoe, etc., are some of 
the practical modes. The Spartan spirit is supreme in 
the minds of the tribe, and the youth are taught that 
no merit is greater than that of bearing pain without 
complaint. At the annual feast of the Green Corn 
Dance the young Indians of a certain age are initiated 
into the rights of warriors, and are subjected to tiying 
ordeals. They must pass through the " In-sha-pit," 
which means the cutting of the legs till the blood 
flows, and other cruel arts, after which the Indian boy 
is pronounced a warrior, ready for the battle of life, 
whatever the Great Spirit decrees. It is the strict 
adherence to the teachings of their ancestors that 



ENDURANCE AND FEASTS. 67 

makes the present generation the brave and proud 
people that they are. 

Strange as it ma}' seem, the Seminoles celebrate a 
Christmas — " all same white man's Kismas " is their 
reph" when questioned concerning the celebration. 
This is the great feast of the " Shot-cay- taw " (Green 
Corn Dance), and occurs each year about the first of 
Jul}-, which is the beginning of the Indian's New Year. 
At the annual meeting the whole band assembles for 
the feast. The ceremony is largely under the control 
of the medicine men who are important personages 
among all the bands, and act as advisers, as priests and 
as doctors. The medicine men select from the youths 
their successors and train them for the position they 
must occupy at their death. The Feast, over which 
they preside is the fitting time for rejoicing, sorrowing 
and purifying. The ceremony preceding the dance 
permits all men who have violated the laws to be 
reinstated b}- undergoing certain trying ordeals. The 
transgressors appear a short time before the dance. 
They are placed in a closed skin tent, where a large 
hot stone lies on the fire. The famous " black drink " 
of Osceola's time is administered, water is poured on 
the stone and the culprits are shut up in this suffocating 
steaming heat. If they pass the ordeal they are forgiven 
their transgression and allowed to join in the feasting 
and dancing when it occurs. The same " black 
drink " which is a nauseating medicine, made from 
herbs, is taken by all the members of the tribe on the 



68 THE SEMINOLES OF FlvORIDA. 

first day of the dance. This cleanses tlie system and 
enables them to " eat, drink and be merry " to the 
fullest extent. When they are ready for the dance, 
the .shells of the highland terrapin, partly filled with 
pebbles, are strapped around their legs, and, as they 
dance, singing the rhythmical long cadenced songs of 
their fathers, they make melodious music. It is at this 
time, too, that the fires of the past year are extinguished 
— not a spark is allowed to remain. New fire is 
produced artificially ; this is the " Sacred Fire " and 
must be made with the flint rock of their ancestors. 
The new fire is presented from one tribe to another 
and is received as a token of friendship. They then 
assemble around the fires, singing and dancing. Grati- 
tude is expressed to the Great Spirit if the years have 
been abundant. If death has overtaken the tribe, 
mournful strains, expressive of pity and supplication 
are invoked. This custom was borrowed from the 
Nachez Indians who worship the Sun. The medicine 
men arrange the date for the Green Corn Dance, which 
is governed by a certain phase of the moon, and runners 
are sent from band to band to announce the time. 

At this great re-union old friendships are revived, 
courtships take a prominent part and plans are formu- 
lated for hunting expeditions, syrup boilings and 
" Koonti gatherings." Members of one settlement 
will agree to meet certain members of another family, 
at a certain point and on a fixed day of the moon. 
There will be no broken pledges — no disappointments. 



[ 



SLAVERY. 69 

The Seminole promises nothing to his people that he 
will not fulfil. 

An exciting feature of the dance is the racing 
for a wife. A level course is laid off and the race 
begins. The dusky lover selects the maiden for whom 
he would strive, because he must catch her before he 
may court her. The Indian girl is his equal, and often 
his superior in fleetness, and need not be caught unless 
she so wishes. But, like her civilized sister, she 
generally encourages the pursuit until she is tired and 
then gracefully yields on the homeward stretch. 
However, should she win the race the young lover 
need have no further aspirations in that direction. 
He may be saved the embarrassment of future 
humiliation. One of the most picturesque games 
enjoyed by the Indians during the Festival is the 
dancing around the festal pole. On the night of the 
full moon they dance from sunset until sunrise. It is 
very interesting to see the harmony in running around 
the circle as the women throw the ball at the pole m 
the centre— the men catch it in their bags that are 
made around a bent stick, which has a bow about four 
inches in diameter, with a cross on the lower side. 
When the dancing is over, the circle about the pole is 
perfectly symmetrical and about ten inches deep, made 
by the running and dancing.' 

Slavery. 
That slavery exists among the Seminoles is a dis- 
puted question. That it does, is known to a few; but 



70 THE vSEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

any interference would be received as an act of imper- 
tinence by the Indians as well as by the slaves them- 
selves; as was evidenced last winter, when a tourist 
meetmg Tustenuggee's slave (who was watching the 
canoe, while his master sold some skins) attempted to 
ask some questions and at the same time to enlio-hten 
the Negro on his true condition. As the chief ''came 
back to the canoe the philanthropic stranger began to 
explam his mission. The chief, with the ferocity 
which at once stamped him as a true Tustenuo-o-ee 
ordered the Negro to "go," which command waTin- 
stantly obeyed. Then turning to the stranger he said, 
"white man's slave free— Injun este lusta (Negro) 
belong to Injun— now you go." The philanthropist 
also quickly obeyed. Talla-hassee's squaw died about 
sixteen years ago leaving a family of six boys, the 
youngest one being but a small piccaninny. These 
boys have been cared for by the two Negro slaves who 
speak only the Seminole language and have seemed 
perfectly content to do the drudgery for the family 
The number of Negroes among the tribe at the present 
time is small. They are allied to the Indians, and 
while they are expected to obey, they are treated kindly, 
more as companions than as slaves. 

Unwrittkn Laws. 

The Government among the Seminoles is peculiar 
It is remarkable, it is magnificent. There is no lying,' 
no stealing, no murder, and yet apparently there is no 



UNWRITTEN LAWS. 7i 



restraining law. Anxiously and carefully ha\'e we 
studied their form of Government, knowing that they 
leave their money, their trinkets and their garments in 
the open wigwams. With carefully framed questions 
we asked of Billy Bowlegs, while on his recent visit to 
our home, "Billy, your money, you leave it in your 
wigwam, you go back, money hi-e-pus (gone), Indians 
steal it, then what you do?" He answered, " me don't 
know." " Yes, but Billy, white man come in my house, 
my money steal 'em— by and by, in jail me put him. 
Indian, all the same, bad Indian steal. What does 
Indian do?" Again the answer came, "me don't 
know." Making the points plainer, illustrating by the 
theft of his gun, his provisions, his moccasins, showmg 
him that a bad Indian from one of the other settlements 
might come in his absence and steal his Winchester, 
with perfect understanding of our meaning, the reply 
came as before, "me don't know, Indian no take 'em- 
Indian no steal." In such a socialistic State, where 
there is no crime, there can be no punishment. Were 
a crime to be committed, a council of chiefs would 
meet and decree a punishment, and it would have 
enough severity to serve as a lesson for all future mis- 
creants. 

The onlv "fall from grace" we have ever known 
among any of the bands, extending over a period of 
ten years acquaintance, was in the case of Buster Flint. 
Old Buster was a large powerful Indian, but as the 
braves express it, he was "ho-lo wa-gus" (no good), 



7^ THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

"lazy too iniich;' and laid around the settlement as a 
regular loafer, too indolent to work or hunt and in con- 
sequence was ragged and unkempt. On one occasion 
while our tent was pitched near the pahnetto wio-wams 
and the hunters had been absent for the day, on the 
return a small red napkin was found to be missing 
Upon calling Captain Tom Tiger's attention to the fact 
he replied, " me know," and very soon the napkin was 
quietly returned to its place. Old Billy could not 
resist the bright red cloth and the others knew his 
weakness. What punishment was meted to the old 
Indian was not learned, but certainly enough to terrify 
him during the remainder of our visit. 

The Seminoles mean to be honest in their dealincrg 
with the whites. Occasionally the white man may be 
deceived when the Indian intends no wrong. As the 
National Editorial Excursion made a tour "of Florida 
last winter, the train made a stop at a little tradino- 
post on the east coast. Quite a joke was innocently 
played upon the part>- by Captain Tom Tiger. A few 
Indians had come into the village to trade at the 
stores. Captain Tom had brought with him a load of 
sour oranges, which grow wild in the region of his 
camp. The oranges are beautiful to the eye, but oh 
how bitter! The merry editors saw the golden fruit 
and immediately offered to purchase. The chief was 
glad to sell, and only asked one x:ent a piece for the 
fruit, but the editors would not take advantage of the 
Indian's ignorance of the price of oranges, so they 



UNWRITTEN LAWS. 73 



paid him twenty-five cents per dozen for them. At this 
the load of oranges was soon disposed of and the chief, 
with perfect honesty of intention in the transaction, was 
the prond possessor of about twenty-five dollars. Those 
of the party who first tasted the fruit said nothing un- 
til all the oranges had been bought ; then they were 
told to taste their oranges, and a laugh, long and loud 
went up from one end of the car to the other, and as 
the train rolled away the good natnred, but victimized 
passengers treated Captain Tom Tiger, chief of the 
Seminoles, to a shower of sour oranges. The Indian 
was dumbfounded. The wild orange is an article of 
barter in Florida, but not until the idea dawn- 
ed upon Tom that the excursionists had mis- 
taken his fruit for the sweet orange did he awaken 
from his bewilderment, and with earnest nods of the 
head and impressive gestures he soliloquized, " white 
man no like Indian's orange — sour too much. I\Ie tell 
white man, one orange, one cent. White man tell me 
one orange, tiuo cents. Indian no cheat white man." 
The Seminoles look upon the dim past as a lost 

paradise, in which there was happiness and innocence. 

" Before the white men came we were men," says the 

Indian. Their faith in their forefathers is reverential. 

They believe they always did what was right. They 

were kind and true to their friends, but terrible to 

their enemies. 

The Florida Indians are an industrious people. 

While the fruits of the chase are their main support, 



74 THE SEMINOI.es OF FLORIDA. 

they cultivate fields, raising vegetables, corn and sugar 
cane. The men make canoes which they sell to 
hunters and trappers. Moccasins, baskets and koonti 
starch, plumes, smoked skins and venison are among 
their exports. Complaints are sometimes heard that 
the Indians are killing off the deer and the alligator, 
which is very true ; but alike are the white man and 
the negro engaged in the same occupation. Before 
the white race taught the Indian the monetary value or 
the game of the country, he slew them only for food 
and clothing. Long centuries had he lived on this 
continent, but the herds of buffalo were not lessened ; 
nor tlie vast quantities of game driven to the fastnesses 
of the forest. Till the white trader came to hunt the 
game as a source of revenue or for ruthless sport, the 
Indian knew no such motive. 

Like his forefathers the Seminole is no prohibi- 
tionist, but enjoys the fire water as much as did the 
savage tribe that drank to Hudson's health. Since 
that first great tipple in New York, which ended in 
such a scene of intoxication, causing the Mohicas to 
name the island " the place of the big drunk," the 
Indian practices more precaution ; and one of their 
number always remains sober and watches his boozy 
brother like a hawk. This is the practice of the 
Seminoles. Before going on a spree a selection is 
made of one of their number, whose duty it is to stand 
guard over all weapons and see that no injury is done 
to any member of the tribe. The " sprees " in which 



UNWRITTEN LAWS. 75 

the>- indulge are too infrequent to warrant them being 
classed as intemperate. 

Only a few of the tribe talk broken English. The 
chiefs disapprove of it on general principles— for fear 
thev will talk too much. To keep aloof from the white 
man, and the white man's ways, is the training of the 
Seminole youth. Occasionally a few of the tribe leave 
their marshy homes. These talk English sufficiently 
to do their trading when visiting towns to dispose of 
their plumes, deer skins, basket work, etc. These 
products always find ready sale ; and when the great 
day of shopping begins a " corner " in red calico and 
fancy colored beads is the result. The squaws have 
control of their own money, when on a purchasing 
expedition, a fact which makes them very American. 

The squaws are about as social as the half wild 
deer that are petted by the guests of the St. Augustine 
hotels. As seen in their camps, clustered together, 
half alarmed, half curious, the side glances from their 
dark brown eyes seem to utter a protest against the 
Government's eternal "move on." A more severely 
pure minded people are not to be found on the globe. 
The w^omen are above reproach. Were a white man 
to insult a Seminole woman by word or look it would 
be well for that man to never appear in the presence of 
the tribe again. The Seminole girl who would 
unwisely bestow her affections would be killed outright 
by the' squaws. In the history of the Everglade 
Indians onlv one such case is known, and at the birth of 



7^ THR SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

the half breed child the mother was taken to the woods 
and there hung to a tree by the indignant squaws. 
The infant was also destroyed. In questioning, as to 
which of the squaws did the killing, the answer was 
"all, every squaw." On the principle of American 
lynch law each hand helped pull the rope. 

Gens and Marriage. 

The Seminoles, like other Indian tribes, are classi- 
fied by gens. This lineage in the Florida tribe is traced 
through the mother. The child belongs to the clan 
which the mother represents. The mother exercises 
absolute ownership, and should a squaw and her 
husband separate for any cause, the children belong 
unconditionally to the wife. One young Indian of 
our acquaintance is divorced from his squaw. They 
have one piccaninny now three years old. Asking the 
father to give the boy up, and holding out alluring 
mducements, he replied, " Munks-chay (no), squaw's 
piccaninny." The gens represented in the Seminole 
tribe to-day, are the Otter, the Tiger, the Deer, the 
Wind, the Bird, the Snake, the Bear and the Wolf. 
Other gens are now extinct in Florida. Thus, in asking 
about the Alligator tribe, the chief replied, "all gone- 
long time ago— to Indian Territory." A young brave 
dare not marry a girl from his own gens, he must select 
her from another clan. When asking a chief what 
he would do, were he to want a girl from his own gens 
for a wife and the girl should want to marry him'', he 



BEAUTY AND MUSIC. 77 

replied, "Me no marry her." The young Indian is 
shy and bashful in his courtships, and having resolved 
to marry conceals his first overtures with all the Indian 
cunning. His intention is secretly conveyed to the 
girl's parents, and should there be no objection the 
voung woman is at liberty to accept or reject. No 
Seminole girl is forced into a marriage. The lover, with 
permission to woo, shows some token of affection ; a 
deer is killed and laid at the door of the wigwam. ^ If 
the present is received the lover is happy. If it remains 
untouched, he may do as his white brother does, go 
hang himself, or, as is usual, go seek a more willing 
fair one. The prospective bride, to show her appreci- 
ation of her lover, makes a shirt and presents it to him. 
No pomp or ceremony is connected with the marriage. 
The day is set by the parents, the groom goes to the 
bride's house, at the setting of the sun. He is now 
her husband, and at her home he lives for a period. 
When the young couple build their own wigwam, they 
may build it at the camp of the wife's mother, but not 
among the husband's relatives. 

Beauty and Mtjsic. 

The Indian has a high sense of beauty in w^oman, 
as has been demonstrated on several occasions during 
their visits to the different towns. A Seminole chief 
was taken to the parlor of a hotel, where a new piano 
was the exciting theme, to see what effect the music 
would have upon his savage mind. Ihit the fair- 



78 THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 

haired performer absorbed his attention, and with a 
shrug which showed his appreciation for beauty more 
than for music, he said, " Ugh ! white man's squaw 
heap purty." 

Music is not a genius with the Seminoles. True, 
they have some songs which are monotone and 
rhythmical. They are the hunter's songs, the camp 
songs and the hillabys. The war songs which sent such 
terror to the hearts of the white settlers in Seminole 
war days, they seem to have forgotten. Some of the 
Indians have natural musical ears, and they are 
recognized by their people as musical leaders. They 
have no standard pitch, but start their songs where 
the natural quality of the voice renders it easiest 
to sing. The pitch of the song depends upon the 
individual. 

An incident, full of pathos, yet illustrating one 
of life's parodies, is recalled. It was occasioned by 
hearing the music of some old familiar tunes played 
in a gruesome Everglade home. As the picture recurs, 
one sees a savage tribe — a weird camp scene, with its 
storm beaten wigwams in the back ground — and dusky 
warriors and squaws moving hither and thither in the 
dim shadows of the camp fire. In the centre of the 
group sat the musician, who was the happy possessor 
of a " box of music," — an organette which he had 
recently purchased. The melodies of " Home, Sweet 
Home," " Hail Columbia " and " Nearer My God To 
Thee," floated out upon the stillness of the night. 



SEMINOLES AT HOME. 79 

telling the stor}- of the white man's inheritance — 
happy homes, a free Government and an ennobling 
religion. To the Seminole — God's image in patient 
red — the tnnefnl strains contained no more sentiment 
than the murmur of the brook ; for they are a people 
without a home, without a country, and without a 
God in the sense of these songs. 

Seminoles at Home. 

A characteristic of the Seminole is to make his 
camp in some secreted spot where the white man would 
least expect to find his habitation. The peculiar physi- 
cal formation of Florida makes this very possible. The 
Everglade region, which is the jmmediate environment 
of the Seminoles, is a water)' prairie, with here and 
there high points of ground. On these fertile "hom- 
niocks" the Seminole makes his home. Approaching 
such a home one sees marks of labor ; a clearing is 
made, the wigwam is built, sugar cane, corn and sweet 
potatoes are growing. A few chickens run around and a 
general air of contentment pervades all. 

A visit to a Seminole camp reveals man}- inter- 
esting little things which touch the heart and enlist the 
sympathy of the observer. The affection displayed by 
the stern faced father, when coddling his pappoose, con- 
vinces the most skeptical that in the barbarian of the 
forest "the heart of man answers to heart as face to 
face in water," whatever the skin it beats under. Old 
Tom Tiger, without question one of the most ferocious 



8o THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

looking of the Seminoles, would take the baby-boy 
from its tired mother's arms and softly croon a lullaby, 
swaying- the pappoose backwards and forwards in his 
great strong arms till the little fellow would fall asleep. 
Another instance of parental affection, as given by 
the Rev. Clay McCauly in his report on the Seminoles 
of Florida to the Bureau of Ethnology, is full of touch- 
ing interest. While the incident occurred several 
years ago, and the little boy is now almost grown to 
manhood, still it cannot fail to reach the heart of the 
reader. We give it in the writer's own words. "Talla- 
hassee's wife had recently died, leaving him with the 
care of six boys; but the strong Indian had apparently 
become both mother and father to his children. Espe- 
cially did he throw a tender care about the little one 
of his household. I have seen the little fellow clamb- 
ering, just like many a little pale face, over his father's 
knees persistently demanding attention, but in no way 
disturbing the father's amiability or serenity. One 
night, as I sat by the camp fire of Talla-hassee's lodge, I 
heard muffled moans from the little palmetto shelter on 
my right, under which the three smaller boys were 
bundled up in cotton cloth on deer skins for the night's 
sleep. Upon the moans followed immediately the 
frightened cry of the little boy, waking out of bad 
dreams, and crying for the mother who could not 
answer; "Its-Ki, Its-Ki, (mother, mother,) begged the 
little fellow, struggling from under his covering. At 
once the big Indian grasped his child, hugged him to 



SEMINOLES AT HOME. 8i 

his breast, pressed the little head to his cheek consoling 
him all the while with caressing words, whose meaning- 
I felt, though I could not translate them into English, 
until the boy, wide awake, laughed with his father and 
was ready to be again rolled up beside his sleeping 
brothers." 

Where the Seminole is hospitable, is around 
the camp fire and the "Sof-ka" kettle. " Hum-bux- 
chay " (come eat) is his salutation. The kettle is placed 
in some convenient part of the camp and at the meal 
hour the members of the household sit around it. A 
large Sof-ka spoon rests in the pot and is handed from 
one to another, each taking a single mouthful. A fas- 
tidious taste might shrink from using the large spoon, 
but to affect such taste would be to offend mine host. 
Sof-ka is the Seminole standard dish, and is simply a 
stew made by cooking the meat in a large iron pot. 
and thickening with meal, grits or vegetables. Sof-ka 
corresponds in its importance with the Seminole to 
"frijoles," among Mexicans. The Indians observe a 
regularity in meal hours, yet at most any hour the Sof- 
ka kettle is ready for those who may come in from the 
chase, enhungered. So plentiful is game that it is a 
common sight to see a saddle of venison or a wild turkey 
and perhaps a duck roasting before the fire, and, as 
appetite prompts, any member of the camp may help 
himself to the savory roast. 

The Seminole piccaninnies are healthy, good 
natured little toddlers, and show no more savage spirit 



82 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

than do their little pale faced brothers. They play 
with bows and arrows, make dolls and play houses, 
revel in mud pies, roast the small birds they kill before 
a "spit fire," and play they are roasting wild turkey. 
They rarely cry, as they are taught from infancy to 
show no such weakness ; they must obey the slightest 
command of their elders. The little four year old is 
taught to assist in the duties of the camp. He can 
carry water, gather wood, watch the little pappoose, 
and learns thus early that he is an important factor in 
the tribe. 

The boys are allowed to handle no weapons until 
old enough to use them successfully. When an Indian 
boy is taught to use a Winchester and returns from the 
chase with his first deer, favors are shown him by the 
elders, tokens are presented and he becomes for the 
time the young Nimrod of the tribe. 

Seminole children are on the whole very much like 
other children — some bright, some stupid, some good, 
some perverse, all exceedingly human. With the disci- 
pline already instilled into their natures, and education, 
first for the heart, then for the mind, added, success would 
be assured. A Seminole luxury, which serves as a tar- 
get as well as a food, is the fruit of the climbing pump- 
kin vine, which is often seen among the branches of the 
trees. When wanted a well directed rifle ball cuts the 
stem and the pumpkin drops to the ground. This was 
a sport enjoyed by the troops during the Seminole war. 

The absence of all earthenware is noticeable in a 



SEMINOIvES AT HOME. 83 

Seminole camp. The Seminoles say ''long time ago" 
their race made earthen pots, but white man's kettle 
"heap good," and they have long since ceased to work 
in clay. All through Florida pieces of pottery are 
found in the sand mounds. In the pine forests where 
the land is good for cultivation, broken pottery is fre- 
quently dug up out of the ground. These forests have 
grown over this land evidently since it was cultivated 
by former races. The pottery found in parts of Florida, 
is said b}- those having made a study of the subject to 
resemble the Aztec pottery to some extent. 

One of the peculiarities of the Seminole man is 
the number of shirts and handkerchiefs he wears at one 
time. An instance is related where a white man in 
company with Billy Ham went out deer hunting. 
Emerging suddenly from the thick forest, some deer 
were observed feeding on the Savannah in front of 
them. The Indian was dressed in the bright colors 
of his race, and stealthily slipping back into the 
shadows of the trees, he began to remove shirt after 
shirt and untie handkerchiefs from around his neck. 
As each article was removed, the Indian became less 
conspicuous. After divesting himself of six or eight 
shirts, and eight or ten handkerchiefs, the Indian and 
his costume now blended with the surrounding objects. 
His dusky form was in perfect symphony with the dead 
leaves and grasses, through which he silently crept 
towards his prey. The Indian prefers to make sure of 
his game by creeping upon it. He can advance to 



84 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

within a few feet of a deer. The deer, while feeding 
is always on the alert for an enemy. If it sees nothing 
moving it will not be alarmed. This is where the 
strategy of the Indian comes in. He stops just before 
the animal raises its head. The lifting of the head is 
always preceded b)- a movement of the tail, hence the 
cunning Seminole watches the tail, and knows when 
to be still. 

Billy Bowlegs. 

A few weeks ago, after many invitations, Cho- 
fee-hat-cho (Billy Bowlegs), a warrior of more than 
usual intelligence made his long promised visit to 
Kissimmee. Here, away from his natural surroundings, 
one could study his Indian characteristics from an 
unprejudiced stand-point. As a specimen of manhood 
he is far above the average. Although six feet two 
inches tall, he is so symmetrically proportioned that 
one loses sight of his height. His features are good, 
his hands and feet remarkably small, his voice soft 
and low — a characteristic of every Seminole. His 
dress was the holiday attire of his tribe ; he wore a 
gold watch and chain, and regulated his time-piece 
by the railroad clock. To the stranger he was all 
indifference, answering " yes," " no," " me don't 
know," as it suited him. While his visit extended 
over a period of three days, he showed no special 
restlessness. At the table he was on the alert and 
readily followed the manners of his host. He was 
cautious to help himself sparingly until urged to — 



I 



BIIvLY BOWLEGvS. 85 

" hum-pee-ta tee ti-es cliay " (eat plenty). The knife 
and fork he used with as much ease as if it were a 
daily practice. 

At the ringing of the church bells on Sunday 
morning, it was explained to the Indian that the}- 
were to call the people to the church, so that the 
minister might tell them of the white man's God. 
With the inquiry, "You go?" to his host, receiving 
an answer in the affirmative, Billy said, " me go too." 
He was escorted to the chapel, and through the long 
service was a model of propriety, and conformed per- 
fectlv to the customs of the church. He expressed 
himself later as liking the music, but remarked that 
the preacher talked too fast. 

Such names as Tom Tiger, Doctor Tommy, Wild 
Cat and Billy Bowlegs, are the white man's names for 
the Indians. Each Indian has his Indian name, which 
is significant of some family or personal characteristic, 
and which contains the root word of the gens to which 
that Indian belongs. During the Indian's visit, he 
expressed a wish to have the Seminole names of a 
number of his people written down so that he might 
make a copy and carry home with him. Certain!)- 
this young brave could not be called stupid or sluggish. 
Knowing that the information we sought was for the 
purpose of putting it into a book, so that " the people 
could read about the good Indians of Florida," he 
showed the greatest interest in the questions, making 
his answers direct and truthful. An air of deepest 



86 



THE SEMINOIvES OF FLORIDA. 



solemnity would rest upon his face until he was assured 
his meaning was thorough!)' understood. During his 
visit he expressed an eagerness to learn to read and 
write, and followed a copy with remarkable exactness. 
With the desire to read and write, however, ended all 
ambition to be like the white man. 

Every effort was made to please so rare a visitor, 
favors were shown him, in fact, he was treated as a 
most honored guest, yet this son of the forest received 
it all with a silent dignity that would have graced a 
monarch. When he was ready to leave, he quietly 
arose, remarking, "me hi-e-pus " (go), and noiselessly 
passed out of the house. 

It is a disputed question whether a wild Indian 
of pure blood has ever been permanently civilized. 
One of the missionaries of the Osage band once said 
that "it took fifteen years to get the blanket off 
Joseph Pawnee-o-passhee, Chief of the Osage tribe, 
and it took Joseph just fifteen minutes to get it on 
him again. 

Religion. 
A pretty tradition among the Seminoles is that a 
beautiful race of Indians, whose women they call the 
daughters of the sun, reside among the swamps and 
lakes of the O-kee-fee-no-kee wilderness and live in 
un-interrupted felicity upon islands of eternal verdure, 
feasting upon the luxuries of the islands, but inaccess- 
ible to the approach of human footsteps. 

Unlike the child of Africa, who lives in a wcrld 



RELIGION. 87 

of ghosts and goblins, the Seminole is not superstitions. 
He has his traditions, his mythologies, and on these are 
based his historv\ He obeys the Great Spirit, but it is 
not from any spirit of fear ; it is the teaching of his 
fathers, and becomes the duty of the Indian. The 
religion of the Seminole has been without question 
the most difficult of all their history to reach. 

Their conception of the creation of man is very 
unique. "Long time ago, E-shock-e-tom-isee (God) 
took seeds and scattered them all around in a rich val- 
ley bordering a river. By and by God saw fingers 
coming out of the ground and great people — heap too 
many came up from out of the sand. Some went to 
the river and washed, washed, washed too nuich ; it 
made them weak and pale; this was . the es-ta-chat-tee 
(white race). Others went to the river and washed not 
too much, they returned full of courage, strong heap ; 
this was the es-ta-had-kee (red race). The remainder 
no wash, lazy too much, es-ta-lus-tee (black man)." 

In an extract taken from an old history- printed 
in London in 1776, descriptive of the native inhabit- 
ants of Florida, these people are described as idolaters, 
worshipping the sun and moon — the worship consisting 
of saluting the rising sun, chanting to his praise and 
offering sacrifices to the planet four times a }-ear. 
They believe that the sun was the parent of life. 

Whatever may have been the ancient rites of this 
race, the present people seem to have outlived all remem- 
brance of them as well as of their early ancestors them- 



S8 



THE SEMINOIvEvS OP FLORIDA. 



selves. ^ A giiniiiiering of the Christian religon, no 
doubt instilled into the race more than two hundred 
}'ears ago by the Franciscan priests, still seems to linger 
among the descendants of to-day and constitutes thdr 
religion largely. These rites they observe as faithfully 
as they did a century ago; and yet in all that time they 
have received no further teaching, and have no per- 
sonal knowledge of the civilizing effects of the gospel 
of Christ. In the same length of time where would 
have been the religion of the Caucasian race, without 
the divine word, and without the influence of men who 
have devoted their lives to the cause of Christianity? 
The Seminoles believe in God (E-shock-e-tom-i-see), 
and that God had a son (E-shock-e-tom-i-see-e-po-chee) 
who came on earth and lived with the Indians "long 
time ago, to make them good Indians." Christ, accord- 
ing to their traditions, was killed by the "wicked Span- 
iards" when they first came to this continent. Since that 
time it has been the duty of the medicine men to teach 
the Indians "to think with God," and to impart the 
Great Spirit's wishes to his red children. Each tribe has 
two or more medicine men who act as priests as well as 
doctors. These men are highly honored by the tribe, 
because they believe them to be directed by the supreme 
being. Just before the festival of the Green Corn Dance 
the medicine men leave the tribe, and going to a secret 
spot, there build a lodge. Here they fast for twenty- 
four hours, after which they take a potion, made of 
Iierbs, which causes a deep sleep to come over them. 



RELIGION. 89 

It is now that God appears to tlieni in a dream and 
tells them how to make the Indians "think good," and 
how they shall prepare the herbs for medicine. Re- 
turning in time to prepare for the great feast they 
occupy a most prominent position in the dance circle. 
The Seminole tradition of Christ's coming to live with 
the Indians, is that the son of God just stopped at the 
most Southern point of Florida, at which place he was 
met by three Indians who carried him around the 
Southern Peninsula on their shoulders, while he sowed 
the seeds of the "Koonti" root which was God's gift 
to the red men. (This Koonti is a wild cassava and 
found only in the extreme Southern portion of Florida.) 
According to the legend the Indians were in a starving 
condition. The ground ' was parched, no corn grew 
and the game had all left. During the long time in 
which the Indians waited for the Koonti to grow, God 
rained down bread "heap, plenty," which the Indians 
gathered and ate. In describing this bread, which 
came down in the rain each morning, the Indian illus- 
trated in this wise — " Li ttly bread, white man's biscuit 
all the same, good, every Indian eat plenty." The 
IMosaic account of the manna from Heaven is evident 
in this legend. 

The Seminole believes in a future state — In-li-Ke- 
ta (Heaven or Home). To this place do the good In- 
dians go after death. Here they may " hunt, hunt, 
hunt, plenty deer, plenty turkey, plenty bear find, and 
cool water ojus (plenty) all the time. Bad Indians 



90 THE SEMINOLEvS OF FI.ORIDA. 

after big sleep hunt, hunt, hunt, deer, turkey, bear- 
no find 'em, hot water drink all the time." 

After death the body of a Seminole is immediately 
prepared for burial — the corpse being- clad in new 
clothes. When a chief dies one cheek is painted red, 
the other one is painted black. The rest of the tribe 
do not have the face painted for burial. It will be re- 
called that Osceola, with the death struggle already 
upon him, rose in his bed, and " with his own hand 
painted one-half of his face, his neck and his throat, 
his wrists, the back of his hands and the handle of his 
knife red, with vermillion"— the marks of a war chief. 

At sunrise, on the day following a death, the body 
is carried by two Indian men to the place of interment. 
The corpse is placed on a base made of logs with the 
face to the rising sun. If the deceased be a warrior, 
his rifle and accoutrements are placed by his side, "that 
he ma}^ be fully armed on his arrival at the happy 
hunting grounds." A bottle of Sofka is buried with 
him that he may eat on his long journey. Around 
the body is built a pen of logs sloping till they close at 
the top and thickly covered with palmetto leaves. 
The protection is to prevent the wild beasts from dis- 
poiling. With faces now turned reverentially to the 
rising sun, they commend into the keeping of the 
Great Spirit the bivouac of the dead. The bearers 
of the dead then make a fire at each end of the grave, 
and the mourners return to camp, the women loudly 
wailing and tearing their hair. At the death of a 



BOUGHT BACK. 91 



husband the widow must live with disheveled hair for 
one year. Her long black tresses are worn over her 
face and shoulders, and she presents a forsaken, pitiable 
appearance. At the end of twelve moons her period 
of mourning is over and she may again arrange her 
hair, don her beads, which have been removed during 
her period of mourning, and may marry again. The 
husband, on the death of his squaw, may not hunt for 
four days, and for a period of four moons must appear 
in mourning, which consists in the removal of his 
neck handkerchiefs, and the laying aside of his turban. 
When a death occurs in one band or settlement, the 
news is not communicated to the other bauds until 
such time as it is convenient for a messenger to be 

sent. 

Bought Back. 

About fifteen years ago, one young Indian brave, 
Ko-nip-hat-cho, by name, stepped beyond the Seminole 
law and asked permission to live with a white man, at 
Fort Myers, Florida. He was eagerly received by the 
gentleman, and was taught much of the English 
language and civilized mode of living. But for a 
Seminole to so far forget the teachings of his fathers, 
as to wish to affiliate with the white race, caused the 
greatest dissatisfaction in the Indian camps. " Talk 
after talk" was " made" by the chiefs as they met in 
council concerning the actions of this bold young 
Indian. He was repeatedly warned to return to the 
tribe. They even threatened to kill him if he refused 



92 THE SEMINOI.es OF FLORIDA 

to do SO. At length, however, artifice succeeded, 
where all else had failed. The daughter of Charles 
Osceola was promised him for a wife if he would 
but return to his people and once more don the 
costume of his race. No Indian girl in all the nation 
could boast of the beauty of Nan-ces-o-wee ; damask 
and dark, with features as refined as the Caucasian, 
a form superb in its symmetr)-, a step as graceful as 
the doe's— a spirit as fearless as the falcon— such is the 
woman who moved Ko-nip-hat-cho from his foreign 
alliance. Ko-nip-hat-cho has four children, is con- 
tented and happy in his forest home, and with his 
knowledge is an important personage among his tribe. 
His wife is the belle of the Seminole nation. All 
the Indian braves say, " Ko-nip-hat-cho's squaw heap 
piirty;' and in their native tongue declare, "Nan- 
ces-o-wee most beautiful of all the Seminole squaws." 

Mounds. 

The great number of mounds found in Florida 
aflford attractive study to the lover of scientific research. 
These mounds are of many shapes, heights and areas. 
The}' are found in all parts of the State, but are more 
abundant on or near the coast and along the water 
courses. Every few months some explorer, armed 
with shovels, picks and other instruments used in 
excavating mounds, comes before the public and 
announces new discoveries, based on new theories. 
The best possible explanation of the source of these 



MOUNDS. 93 



mounds is founded on the theory that they are of 
Indian origin. One scientist has aimed a happy 
stroke at writers of our antiquities when he says, 
"Whoever has time and patience, and will use his 
spade and his eyes together, and restrain his imagi- 
nation from running riot among mounds, fortifications, 
etc., etc., will find very little more than the indications 
of rude savages, the ancestors of the present race." 
No better theories can be advanced than those of 
Major Powell, who says, " remove the Indian element 
from the problem and we are left without a hypothesis." 
One of the latest mound excavations in Florida was 
made by Dr. Moore. A thousand skeletons were 
unearthed as well as many articles of pottery, and 
other things considered of great value by the explorer. 
The height and character of the Florida mounds indi- 
cate the different uses for which they were built. These 
mounds vary from three feet to thirty feet in height, 
and their areas range from a few square feet to four 
hundred feet square. The shell mounds which are 
numerous throughout the peninsula seem to ^ have 
grown without any idea of purpose by the builders, 
and are merely accumulations of shells and soil. Year 
after year it was the custom of the tribes to congregate 
at certain localities for their festivals, and, living on 
shell fish, the shells in course of time formed vast 
mounds or elevations. There are a number of small 
mounds on the outskirts of Kissimmee City. Exca- 
vations have been made, and pieces of skeletons, beads, 



94 THE SEMINOLEvS OF FLORIDA. 

pottery and gold trinkets were exhumed. Other 
mounds in Florida indicate that they were built for 
tombs, while others, being composed of stratas of sand 
and other soils, from their height might have been built 
for out-looks or signal towers. Chroniclers of I)e Soto's 
day describe the manner in which the natives brought 
the earth to these spots and formed these elevations. 
The Indians say in Seminole war days these mounds 
were used to build their signal fires upon. By smoke 
telegraphy, they communicated war news from one 
band to another. By this means, with their fleet 
Indian runners, who acted also as spies, the entire 
tribe was kept informed of the innermost workings of 
the white army. In asking a chief about the burial 
mounds, he answered, " long time ago heap many 
people here," and that their " ancestors buried their 
dead in mounds so that other bands coming along 
might not disturb their bones." Many times the body 
would be carried a great distance in order to bury in a 
sepulchre where rested the bones of their ancestors. 
"Now," the chief says, "Seminoles no fight, not too 
many people;" and he buries his dead near his camp. 

Picture Writing. 

The Seminoles have no picture writing, nor do 
their minds in any way run to art. They prefer the 
rough athletics of forest life, which educates them for 
the chase and makes them the vigorous and hardy 
people that they are. They would sooner " hook " an 



MEDICINE. 95 

alligator than paint the finest picture the brush is 
capable of producing, and yet there is nothing in the 
white man's home they enjoy more than studying the 
pictures of a book. In this way they may be taught 
much. Through the teaching by pictures they have 
learned the story of Pocahontas, and of William Penn, 
" the red man's brother." On an occasion the picture 
of a heathen Zuni god was shown to an Indian and its 
meaning explained. The effect produced would have 
done credit to a Christian believer. 

Medicine. 

The Seminoles have a superstitious faith in the 
efiEicacv of certain roots and herbs known to their tribe, 
the knowledge of which has been handed down from 
their remote ancestors. The curative property of these 
plants they never question. A few of the band to-day 
have carefully concealed about them small pieces of a 
root, which they call "hil-lis-waw." This root was 
gotten by some of their tribe sixty years ago when 
their people were encamped at Tampa, and has been 
carefully treasured ever since, having been handed 
down from father to son. Their faith in the healing 
powers of this root is marvelous, their idea being that 
the smallest possible piece being made into a tea 
would restore life from death almost. Those fortunate 
enough to own a small piece the size of a pea are con- 
sidered to have a great treasure. On testing this root 
it was found to be a simple plant, the great medicinal 



96 THE SEMINOLEvS OF FLORIDA. 

qualities of which exist largely in the minds of the 
Indians. They are ignorant as to what the root is and 
believe it to be very valuable, saying, '"so much," 
(what one could hold in the palm of the hand) "cost 
$25." "Long time ago," says the Seminole, "chief 
sick heap too much; by and by, big sleep come. 
Medicine man bring hil-lis-waw, fix 'um, quick. Chief 
get well." 

Pais-haw is the name applied to a plant which the 
Indians regard as an antidote to the rattlesnake bite. 
Old settlers tell that they have known of Indians 
allowing themselves to be bitten by a rattler on a 
wager of a silver dollar. The Indian after being bitten 
would go to the woods, a short distance away, and pro- 
cure their antidote. Returning they would apparently 
be no worse for the bite. Requesting an Indian to 
procure some of the roots, he replied, " No find 'em 
here— by and by me go to Okeechobee swamps, find 
'em plenty." 

A few weeks later there came through the mail a 
small box full of roots, neatly done up and addressed 
by the Indian's own hand, a perfect copy of name and 
address as he had learned to write it during his visit. 

On sending the roots to the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion for analysis, the secretary reports that they belong 
to a species of plant known as Cvperus, and adds, 
" This is one of the large number of reputed cures for 
snake-bites, which have become so regarded from the 
fact that a person who has been bitten has been known 




Billy Haiu. Charlie Peacock. 



ABIDING WORDS OP BEAUTY. 97 

to recover after taking the drug." The use of water 
enters largely into the materia medica of the Semi- 
noles, bathing in cold water being one of their princi- 
pal treatments for fevers. During the war with the 
whites a soldiers' camp was found deserted ; the Indians 
immediately appropriated the clothing, blankets and 
other things. Very soon the loathsome disease of 
small-pox broke out among them. Ignorant as to the 
nature of the malady, they immediately applied their 
bathing remed)'. The result was a frightful mortalit}', 
few of that band were left to tell the story. In this 
instance the Government Army gained a victory over 
their foe without the firing of a gun. 

Abiding Words of Beauty. 

All through Florida the musical softness, peculiar 
to the Seminole dialect, is sustained in the names of the 
lakes and rivers. Each having a history descripti\-e of 
its character, or some incident connected therewith. 

The old names of the chiefs were very euphonious, 
such as Osceola, Micanopee Tusteenuggee, Coacoochee 
and Talla-hassee. These are being displaced b}' names 
adopted by the whites, such as Billy Ham, Tommy 
John and Billy Buster. Accident, too, seems to have 
credited the Aboriginese with words not really their 
own if it be true that "Yankee" is only the attempt 
made by the Indian to speak the word English, and that 
pappoose is the effort of the natives to say "baby." 
The symphonious cadence of such words as Alabama, 



98 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

Tuscaloosa, Caloosahatchee and Minnehaha has often 
been noticed, 

Tohope Ke-liga is the name of one of the most 
beautiful lakes in Florida, its Indian significance 
meaninof ''fort site." All around the lake are the old 
hunting grounds of the Indians and memorable points 
in Seminole war fame. To-day the Okeechobee drain- 
age canal connects it with the lakes south, plantations 
surrounding its shores ; the thriving city of Kissiunnee 
is situated on its North side and all trace of the Sem- 
inole has vanished. The only memorials he has left 
are his words firmly embedded in the history of his 
conquerors. Kissimmee river is said to have taken its 
name from a romantic episode. A young Spanish 
grandee in a moment of impulse snatched a kiss from 
a Seminole girl, and the ifrightened maiden's child-like 
plaint to her mother established the name of the river 
on whose banks the kiss was stolen — Kiss-him-mee. 
We-la-ka is the Indian name for the St. John's river 
and describes it so graphically that the old Spaniards 
retrograded when they named the "river of lakes," for 
their patron saint. Ock-la-wa-ha, "crooked water," 
appropriately describes the most crooked stream in 
America. Okeechobee, with her vast expanse of 
water and over-hanging mists, in Seminole significance 
means "the place of big water." With la coochee, so 
memorable in Seminole war days as the place of 
Osceola's strategic movements, is a long but ver}- nar- 
row stream meaning m the Seminole tongue "Little 



CONCLUSION. 99 

Big river." Alachua — •' the big jug without a bottoui," 
We-Kiva — "mystery," and so on all over the peninsula 
do we find names preserved which mark the wander- 
ings of the picturesque Aborigines. 

In dealing with the Seminole language we meet 
with long words and mammoth expressions. The 
Seminole greeting, "Ha-tee-eten-chee-hick-cha-hit-is- 
chay sounds formidable, yet it only means "glad to see 
you." These, with well understood Indian phrases 
such as "burying the tomahawk," "going on the war 
path" we employ familiarly without a thought of the 
tribe we have dispossessed. The time for studying the 
Aborigines of America will soon be over. Only rem- 
nants of tribes remain among us. Old myths and cus- 
toms are being displaced by new ones, and we can 
truly see that the red man's inheritance is nearing the 
horizon of its destiny. 

Conclusion. 

When the "last Seminole " goes, he will in every 
sense be the "last." He will leave no history; neither 
monument. His narrow path through the Savannah 
lasts no longer than the doe's road to the ford of the 
stream. His race have had their joys, their triumphs 
and their defeats, and then been swept into obli\'ion. 
As memories come up, we hear the faint rustle of the 
leaves and see the dusky forms of these ancient people 
as they glided through the leaf carpeted aisles of the 
forests. 



loo THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

Thou, Florida with thy laughing waters and sunny 
skies, art the Seminole's elysium. Thy spreading 
palms form the only canopy he desires. To part from 
thy loved scenes would be like separating from his 
kindred. No, under the shadows of the live oak and 
the magnolia has he lived, under their shadows let 
him die. 

As the patient Seminole, with swelling heart 
" moves a little farther, and yet a little farther," he 
goes not willingly, but with a sad heart and a slow 
step. Micanopy, when told by the officers, that he 
might choose between emigration and death, answered, 
" Kill me here then — kill me quickly." The same 
spirit is manifested by the Seminole to-day when he 
says, " We have never done anything to disgrace the 
land of our birth, nor the honor of an Indian. For 
fifty years the pledge to our great father has been kept 
inviolate. Our tongues are not forked and our feet 
tread not in the white man's path. We threw away 
the rifle and grasped hands with the white skin. We 
know the white man's power, and though we love 
peace, we fear not death. We will not leave the land 
of our birth. The Great Spirit loves his red children_, 
and says to them, ' your bones must rest with the dust 
of your fathers.' Brothers, when the pale face came 
to the shores of our land, our fathers made him a fhe 
from their flint rock to warm by, and gave him hominy 
to stay his hunger. Brothers, the Seminole wishes no 
harm to the white race, but his heart heaves and 



CONCLUSION. 



surges as it sa>-s, ' let lis alone — let us alone ' Though 
you slay us, you shall not move us." 

" A kingdom as full of people as hives are of bees," 
wrote the first discoverer to King Ferdinand. Where 
are the}' now? As the stars and stripes proudly herald 
liberty and independence to the comers of all Nations, 
how can we be unmindful of that "charity which 
begins at home?" The panorama of Indian history 
passes before us, and we see nothing more tragical than 
the pictures of the wrongs endured by the native popu- 
lation. Let us then deal kindly with the tribes we 
have dispossessed, whose removal to the swamps has 
made room for our own enlargement. In the persons 
of these descendants of a now disinherited race, who 
with shy, frightened faces still hide in the wilderness, 
we may yet atone in part for the tragedies of the past, 
by making Florida a free, safe and Christian home for 
this patient, and long persecuted remnant of a once 
powerful Indian Nation. 



Introduction to Vocabulary. 



IN PRESENTING the following words, phrases and 
sentences to the public, we beg to add a few ex- 
planations. The words have been obtained from 
the Indians themselves. To collect words from an In- 
dian requires patience at any time, and in dealing with 
the Seminoles particularly so. The Florida Indian is 
suspicious of the white man, and until a confidence 
was established and a friendship formed, it was impossi- 
ble to obtain any accuracy from him. To secure the 
words in this work methods were devised, in order to 
have the Seminole fully understand the collector, 
as well as to enable the collector to grasp with a 
certainty the Indian's meaning. As will be seen by 
a close study of the vocabulaiy, the noun does more 

than simply denote the thing to which it belonp-s 

It also assigns to it some quality or characteristic. 
As for instance the word elephant. The Indian 
had never seen an elephant, but on being showai 
one in a circus parade, after a careful thinking, he 
named it, " e-po-lo-wa-kee " — " heap long nose." 
Great latitude is thus permitted in an Indian vocabu- 



INTRODUCTION TO VOCABULARY. 103 

lary. On account of non-intercourse with a civilized 
race the Seminole language is very pure. Economy in 
speech is followed, the highest aim of the Indian being 
to express in a single word both action and object. 
Every cluster- word is a description — or a definition. 
The study of an .unwritten language finds its phonol- 
ogy difficult. In this collection, the words are spelled 
phonetically ; the accent and division into syllables are 
indicated to assist the student to make the correct pro- 
nunciation. Not only were these words given in good 
faith by the Indians with the present use in view, but 
each succeeding year, as we visited the Glades for a 
hunt, the various members of the tribe showed decided 
interest in our note book— assisting in revising the 
words by going over and over again the Seminole 
meaning and accent. The Seminole has a keen sense 
of humor. As we gathered words and phrases many 
amusing incidents occurred, always at our expense and 
to the greatest merriment of the Indians. 

To Talla-hassee are we indebted for much of this 
vocabulary, as well as for many interesting incidents 
and fragments of the history; yet it was not until the 
fourth year of acquaintance that the old chief,^ beside 
the dying embers of our camp fire, at the midnight 
hour opened his heart and told the story of his people, 
their myths, religion, legends— their heartaches. The 
night was chilly, the old chief lost in his own earnest- 
ness drew his tunic closer about him, yet the writer 
could not say "it is late— you are cold." It was a 



I04 THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA. 

golden opportunity a word, the rustle of a branch and 
the current would have changed. Until daybreak, in 
his broken English Talla-hassee told his story. Never 
before, nor ever since has such an occasion presented 
itself 

J. M. WiLLSON, Jr. 

Kissimmee, Florida. 



Vocabulary .'' 



Persons. 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Es-ta-chat-tee Indian. 

Es-ta-had-kee White man. 

Es-ta-lus-tee Negro. 

Ho-non-waw Man . 

Hoke-tee Woman. 

Ach-o-be-li-tee Old man. 

Hoke-tee-li-tee Old woman. 

Ho-non-wa-mi-nit-ti-tee Young man. 

Hoke-tee-ti-mi-nit-ti-tee Young woman. 

Che-pon-no-shi-tee Boy. 

Hoke-ti-chee Girl. 

Est-to-chee Infant. 

Ho-non-o-chee Male infant. 

Hoke-to-chee Female infant. 

Poke-taw Twins. 

E-hi-wa-o-chit-ee Married man. 

E-hi-was-ko Bachelor. 

E-hi-wa-se-ko Widower. 

E-hi-lift-mus-chee Widow. 

E-he-see-ko Old maid. 

E-he-see-ko-hoke-ti-lee The old people. 

Es-tee-min-nit-tee A great talker. 

O-pa-na-ki-tee A silent person. 

Host-cope-e-taw Thief. 

Host-cope-e-gost-chee Not a thief. 

* In this vocabulary the words are arranged according to their subject or 

character, no attention being paid to alphabetical succession. 



io6 VOCABULARY. 

Parts of the Bodv. 

SEMINOI^. ExXGLISH. 

E-caw Head. 

E-caw-e-see Hair. 

E-caw-hos-pee. Crowu of head. 

To-so-faw Face. 

Ka-ho-waw Forehead. 

E-tox-lo-wa\v Ej'e. 

Tose-lis-kee E\e lash. 

To-do-no-lup-pa-is-see Eye brow. 

Tode-le-wa-hos-pee Upper eyelid. 

Tode-le-list-la-hos-pee Lower eyelid, 

Hots-cote-es-caw Ear lobe. 

E-hots-ko Ear. 

Hots-caw-pof-ef-caw Perforation in ear. 

Hots-caw-ko-kee Opeuiug of ear. 

E-ho-po Nose. 

E-po-fo-nee Ridge of uose. 

E-po-haw-kee NostriL 

E-yau-i-waw Cheek. 

No-ti-ka-is-see Beard. 

E-choke-o-waw Mouth. 

Cboke-hos pon-a-paw Upper lip. 

Choke-hos-pee Lower lip. 

E-no-tee-ho-maw Front teeth. 

E-no-tee-lock-ko Back teeth. 

To-los- waw Xon "ue. 

E;to-ka-lo-swaw Saliva. 

Siu-no-ka-nil-caw Throat. 

Xo-ti-caw Chin. 

No-ka-pee Neck. 

No-quif-pa-tock-ock-naw Adam's apple. 

E-naw-chee Bodv. 

E-faw-chaw Shoulder. 

Fo-lo-taw-pix-taw Shoulder blade. 

E-claw Back. 

E-claw-fo-nee Back bone. 

E-hoke-pee ....Breast of man. 



PARTS OF THE BODY. 107 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

E-pee-see Breast of woman. 

Im-po-loke-cho Hip. 

E-ho-cho-waw Navel. 

E-shock-paw Arm. 

In-clop-pe-claw : Right arm. 

Aw-clos-clin-aw Left arm. 

Ho-lo-wa-to-tee-ta-gaw Arm pits. 

Sock-pof-o-nee Rigiit arm above elbow. 

Aw-kos-ko-nof-o-nee Left arm above elbow. 

E-ko-chee Elbow. 

In-tee-ti-pix-tee-e-toke-kee-ta> -gaw Wrist. 

In-tee-ti-pix-tee Hand. 

In-ko-faw Palm of hand. 

In-tee-ta-pix-tee-e-naw-pa Back of hand. 

Jn-ka-we-sa-kaw Fingers. 

Som-kit-^kee Thumb. 

Som-kil-smil-kaw First finger. 

In-ka-nock-klo-pa-ho-e-claw Second finger, 

In-ka-ho-klif-claw-such-lo Third finger. 

In-ka-its-ho-chee-wa-chee Small finger. 

In-hits-kee-in-kose-es-waw Finger nail. 

In-ka-we-sock-ka-e-to-pee Knuckle. 

In-ka-yock-pee Space between knuckles. 

E-tol-kay Rump- 

Chee-hof-ee I^eg above knee. 

E-tolk-wa-po-la-ko Knee. 

Tose-to-po-la-ko Knee pan. 

Chee-host-go-waw Leg below knee. 

E-lim-pock-ko Calf of leg. 

E -lay-toke-to-swaw Ankle. 

E-lit-ta-pix-tee-e-fo-cho-to-kee-not-ee Instep. 

Es-tel-e-po Foot. 

Es-tel-e-ho-faw Sole of foot. 

E-lich-es-caw Heel. 

Es-tel-e-e-sa-caw ^°^- 

Es-tel-e-eeds kee Large toe. 

Es-tel-e-nock-clay-ho-e-claw Second toe. 



'°^ VOCABUIvARY. 

SEMINOr.^. ENGUSH. 

E-la m-ka-so-swaw Toe nail. 

<^^^^-taw Blood. 

Chaw-tee-fo-kaw Vein or artery. 

Istee-e-kol-pee Brain (man). 

^■^Ol-Pee Brain. 

E-ho-sil-waw Bladder. 

E-fee-caw Heart. 

E-pof-caw Around the heart 

E-to-chee Kidney 

In-hee-shock-e-taw Lung. 

E-lo-pee I^i^er. 

Im-pa-shaw Stomach. 

In-ta-law Rib 

In-ka-shock-a-tee Pulse. 

Es-tel-e-hop-o Footprint. 

Shon-aw-haft-bee Skin. 

Shon-aw-fon-ee Bone. 

Fix-chee-e-la-pots-kee Intestines. 

Cho-pock-e-taw Scalp. 

Dress and Ornaments. 

Cot-to-po-kaw Cap. 

E-kof-kaw Breech cloth. 

She-won-nock-e-taw Breech cloth belt. 

Aw-fa-tee-kaw J.eggins. 

Stil-i-pi-kaw Moccasins. 

Som-po-chee Basket. 

Ech-e-taw Blanket. 

Lo-cus-haft-ee-pa-ta-kaw Bear skin (robe). 

E-cho-haftee-pa-ta-kaw Deer skin (robe). 

^'""■^^^ Buck skin or snake skin. 

Cho-fee-haft-bee Rabbit skin. 

O sho-aw-haft-bee Beaver skin. 

0-shon-aw-haft-bee Otter skin. 

Co-Io-waw Paint. 

Co-lo-waw-la-nee Paint (yellow). 

Co-lo-wa-lus-tee Paint (black). 



DWEIvLINGS, IMPLEMENTS, UTENSILS, ETC. 109 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Co-lo-wa-chaw-tee Paint (red). 

Sboke-shot-ta-pix-chee Pouch. 

Stink-ko-shot-ti-tee-caw A ring, 

Cop-a-to ca-och-a-co Bare head. 

Es-tel-e-pi e-ca-och-a-co Bare foot. 

E-ca-e-pee Naked. 

She-won -uock-e-ta-sa-lof-kaw Knife belt. 

Co-na-waw Beads. 

Hi-ef-cof-ka-taw Shirt. 

Stil-a-pa-won-hee Shoes. 

Note tes-chee Handkerchief. 

Es-ti-ha-kee Picture. 

Osh-rw-kilcaw-e- fa-caw Watch chain. 

Osh-aw-kil-caw Watch. 

She -ma caw Fan. 

Shit-ta-kee-caw Walking cane. 

Dwellings, Implements, Utensils, Etc. 

Cho-co-ta-ti-yee Village. 

Cho-co hum-co-see Wigwam. 

E-how-kee Door way. 

. We-chow-hi-lit Spark. 

No-clit B"rn. 

Tode-caw ^'''e- 

Tock-hotchee Fire wood (burning). 

Lip-la-it Blaze. 

Toke-la-waw Living coals. 

Tock-ees- so Ash es . 

Eh-cho-chee Smoke. 

Aw-lock-a-taw-chaw-ho-tee My home. 

Aw-ho-gee Doorway. 

Pa-ta-caw B^^- 

Shot-hote-caw Door. 

Cho-ko House. 

Ko-lo-kee Lamp. 

Osh-aw-kil-caw-lock-o Clock. 

To-paw Floor- 



no VOCABULARY. 

SEMINOI.E. ENGUSH. 

Cho-ko-no-paw Ceilincr. 

Cho-ko-shaw-hose-paw-caw Wall. 

Ot-so-caw Stairway. 

We-wa-ese-pay-lot-caw Spring. 

We-wa Water. 

E-pee-lo-faw Hommock (woods). 

E-con-aw-aw-ho-pa-caw Map. 

See-la-hot-tit-taw Railing. 

Tode ca-e-ho-tee Stove. 

We-wa-ho-tee Water tank. 

Ho-e-so-clope-pa-lock-a-naw Wash bowl. 

In-ka-e-to-shi-eets-caw Towel. 

To-how-how-waw Trunk. 

So-cose-caw Soap. 

Sin-ti-ne-ta-pi-ee to-caw Whisk broom. 

Ees-cos-caw Comb. 

E-fa-ko-lock-o Rope (cable). 

Shot-hit-go-chee Glass tumbler. 

Tose-to-lese-ta w Wagon . 

Tose-to-lese-ta-pof-na-chee Buggy. 

Aw-ta-lit-taw Clothes hooks. 

E-shaw-ho-tee Gun cover. 

Chot-a-dox-cha-in-chee Arrow. 

Bitb-low Canoe. 

Sar-sho-e-fa-caw Fish line. 

Whe-ah Fishnet. 

Hi-eets-caw ...Accordeon. 

Tock-kee-so Ashes. 

Buch es-waw Ax. 

P<>lk:-ko Pottery. 

Le-ho-chaw Pot of pottery. 

Chat-o-lon-ee Brass. 

Che-to-ko-lope-lon-ee Gold. 

Sha-teek-e-naw-yaw Silver. 

Shot-to Iron. 

Hi-lo-chee Cup. 

We-wa-sis-ca-taw Dipper. 



DWELLINGS, IMPLEMENTS, UTENSILS, ETC. in 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Sto-caw Bucket. 

E-slof-ka-pee Kuife handle. 

E-slof-ka e-ock-shaw Knife point. 

E-slof-ka-e-in-fos-kee Knife edge. 

Sa-lof ka Knife. 

Chum-cha w-cha-lock-ko BeH . 

Clmm-chaw-ko Small bell. 

Shif-fon-waw A.\vl. 

To-shay-sil-caw Whang (for sewing moccasins). 

We-hop-caw Pillow. 

To-hi-o-waw Valise. 

To-ho-to-waw Powder. 

Ho-tte Powder can. 

Shaw-toke-e-naw-waw Money. 

To-ko-naw-shaw-tee One cent. 

Na-kop-po-chee Ten cents. 

Con-shot-go-ho-ko-lin Fifty cents. 

Chalk Twenty-five cents. 

To-ko-naw-wa-hum-kin One dollar. 

To-ko-naw-wa-cha-kee-bin Five dollars. 

E-sho-gaw File. 

Ees-how-ees-caw Key. 

Ees-pas-caw Broom. 

Chot-to-go-chee Mallet. 

Op-pee Broomstick. 

Tock-o-take-go-chee Common stick. 

Im-mi-lay-sha-taw Court plaster. 

Tose-ka-lof-caw Plane. 

E-to Wood. 

Tock-kin-o-shaw Brick. 

Ok-e-fots-chay Sea shell. 

To-hop-kee Fence 

Ho-lo-paw Walk (pavement) 

Chat-o-ko-cho Cartridge. 

Hi-eets-e-fa-caw Guitar string. 

0-like-a-taw Chair. 

To-paw Floor- 



112 VOCABULARY. 

SEMINOI.E. ENGLISH. 

Es-ti-ha-kee Picture. 

Tol lo-faw Town. 

Ist-fon-o-kee-taw Rocking chair. 

E-skil-caw Compass. 

Shock-shaw-e-taw Dip net. 

Ti-sos-so-chee Pin. 

Ees-la-pode-ca w Needle. 

Ees-ti-no-tee-some-fo-tee-taw Tooth pick. 

Shoke-chaw Sack. 

It-to-tee-ish-fo-gaw Ice saw. 

It-to-tee-butch-es-waw Ice hatchet. 

It-to-tee-in-so-go Ice house. 

It-to-tee saw-gaw Ice machine. 

It-to-tee-ock-les-waw Ice moulds. 

It-to-tee-she-lot-caw Ice tongs. 

It-to-tee- we-waw Ice water. 

To-fo-ga-ta-Ieg-a-mee Sawdust. 

To-fo-la-hi-lee Cord wood 

To-to-lese-pof-a-naw-o-cho-go Railroad car. 

Phon-e-o-hop-ee Fishing pole. 

Sho-a-los-ga-taw Hammock (to swing). 

Ko-lo-kee-e-ho-tee Lantern. 

Tol-lot-to-chee Brush. 

O-pa-tock-o Saddle. 

E-ho-e lit-taw Stirrup. 

She-lop-ko-chif-ko-taw Spur. 

Ach-aw-kil-caw-lock-o Clock. 

E-sho-e-caw Hoe. 

Hot-cus-waw Iron kettle. 

Ta-pate-go-chee Pistol. 

Ich-chaw Gun. 

R-chaw Rifle. 

To-lo-to-lon-e Cap (percussion). 

To-hote-to- waw Powder. 

Wee-aw Seine. 

Sa 1 of- ka- cbop-ka Sword. 

Sa-lofkachee Knife (small). 



FOOD. 113 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Sa-lof ka-fots-kee Knife (sharp). 

Sa-lof-ka-tof-nee Knife (dull). 

Food. 

To-lee-ko Oatmeal. 

0-chee-tot-o-la-go-chee Corn bread. 

Tot-o-Io-som-po- chee Cake. 

Pish-waw Meat. 

0-po-swaw Soup. 

Tock-a-la-kee Bread (flour). 

Och-chee-lo-wat-kee Corn (green ) . 

Wa-ka-pish-aw Milk. 

Chum-pee Honey. 

Yel-la-haw Ivemonade 

Fo-chum-pee Bees and honey, 

Ist-sa-tock-ko Cauliflower. 

O-ko-to Radish. 

Oke-chon-tel-o-ko-nee Salt. 

Il-la-haw Orange. 

Itch-on-e-haw Tallow. 

Ho- waw Pepper sauce. 

E-cho-pish-waw Deer meat. 

Chil-i-hos-waw Pineapple. 

Wa-ka-pish-aw-tock-o-la-kee Cheese. 

Tol-o-so-caw Cocoanut . 

Chos-chee-lock-o Pumpkin (white man's). 

Chos-chee Pumpkin (Indian). 

E-po-see-waw Gravy. 

Fit-chee Sausage. 

We-len-tel-lo Banana. 

Hil-ocho-waw Chewing gum. 

Wa-ka-pish-a-ne-haw Butter. 

Wa-ka-pish-e-e-tok-chee Sour milk. 

Wa-ka-fit-chee Sausage (beef)- 

Suck-a-fit-chee Sausage (pork). 

Ho-tes-kot-tee-hot-kee Flour. 

Whit-lo-ko Oysters. 



114 VOCABULARY. 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Aw-haw Potato (sweet). 

Tol-o-la-go-chee Biscuit. 

A w-hot-to-pox-to-chee Potato (Irish) . 

Cot-lo-chee Sardines. 

A w-pis-ta-lake-a-to-me Potted ham. 

Tock-a-la-kee-chom-paw Ginger cake (large) . 

Ho-maw Pickles. 

Pe-kon-o-soch-o-chee Cherries. 

Tock-a-fon-waw Filbert. 

Shot-o-lock-o Apple. 

Chil-loos- wa Grapes. 

Tock-a-la-kee-chum-po-chee Cake (small) . 

Colors. 

Lus-tee Black. 

Ho-lot-tee Blue. 

Ho-ko-lon-i-tee Brown . 

Sho-po-ka-hot-ka-chee Grey. 

Pi-e lon-o-maw Green. 

Chat-tee Red. 

Hot-ka-tee White. 

Numerals. 

Hum-kin One. 

Ho-ko-lin Two. 

Too-chin Three. 

Os-tin Four. 

Chaw-kee-bin Five. 

A-pa-kin Six. 

Ko-lo-pa-kin Seven . 

Chin -na-pa-kin Eight. 

Os-ta-pa-kin Nine. 

Pa-lin Ten. 

Pa-lin-hum-kin-hum-kin Eleven. 

Pa-lin-hum-kin-ho-ko-lin T wel ve. 

Pa-lin-huni-kin-too-chin Thirteen. 



DIVISIONS OF TIME. 115 

SEMINOI,E. ENGUSH. 

Pa-lin-hum-kin-os-tin Fourteen. 

Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin Twenty. 

Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin-hum-kin Twenty-one. 

Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin-too-chin Twenty-three. 

Pa-lin-too-chin Thirty. 

Pa-lin-os-tin Forty. 

Pa-hn chaw kee-bin Fifty. 

Pa-li n-a-pa-kin Sixty. 

Pa-lin-ko-la-pa-kin Seventy. 

Pa-liu-chin-na-pa-kiu Eighty. 

Pa-liu-os-ta-pa-kin Ninety. 

Chope-kee-huni-kiu One hundred. 

Chope-kee-ho-ko-liu Two hundred. 

Chope-kee-too-chin-ee Three hundred. 

Divisions of Time. 

Ti-ose-go-chee First moon (August) . 

Ti -ose-go-lock-o Second moon (September) . 

E-ho-lee Third moon (October). 

Si-lof-slop-ko Fourth moon ( November) . 

SL-lof-so-kee Fifth moon (December). 

Ho-ti-lee-has-ee Sixth moon (January). 

Ti-sot-to chee Seventh moon (F~ebruary). 

Ti-sot-to-lock-o Eighth moon (March). 

Kee-hos-ee Ninth moon (April). 

Got-so-hos-ee Tenth moon (May ) . 

Hi-yote-chee Eleventh moon (June). 

Hi-yote-lock-o Twelfth moon (July). 

Mis-kee-hum-kin One year. 

Ha-lits-chey Moon. 

Nit taw Day. 

Nist-lee Night. 

U-mus-ka-taw Dark. 

Pox-son-gay Yesterday. 

Pox-son-gay-lim-pix-son-gay Day before yesterday. 

A-pox-see-lim-pox-say-nist-lee Day after to-morrow night. 

Mo-shon-nit-taw To-day. 



ii6 VOCABULARY. 

SEMINOLE. ENGI.ISH. 

A-pox-see To-morrow. 

A-pox-see lim-pox-say Day after to-morrow. 

Mis-kee-hum-kee Next year. 

Mo-shon-mis-kee This year. 

Mis-kee-ho-ko-lin Two years. 

Mis-kee-too-chin-aw Three years. 

Nit-ti-chow-go-hum-kin One week. 

Nit-ti-chow-go-ho-ko-lin Two weeks. 

Nit-ti-chow-go-too-chin-aw Three weeks. 

Nit-ta-hum-kin One day. 

Nit-ta-ho-ko-lin Two days. 

Nit-ta-too-chin-aw Three days. 

Nit-ta-os-tin Four days. 

Mo-shon-nist-lee To night. 

A-pox-see-nist-lee To-morrow night. 

Mo-cho-hos-see This moon. 

Hos-see-hum-kee Next moon. 

Osh-aw-kil-hum-kin One o'clock. 

Osh aw-kil-ho-ko-lin Two o'clock. 

Animals, Parts of Body, etc. 

Lo-ko-see Bear (black ) . 

Ko-wat-go-chee Cat (wild ) . 

E-faw Dog. 

E-cho Deer. 

Chil-la Fox. 

E-cho-wa-a-taw Goat (mountain). 

Su-caw-pin-si-law Hog (wild). 

E-chos-waw Manatee or sea cow. 

Tock-o Mole. 

O-shen-aw Otter. 

Su-caw-hot-caw Opossum. 

Ches-she Rat. 

Cho-fee Rabbit. 

Cho-fee-chaw-hot-ee Rabbit (grey). 

Wood-ko Raccoon . 

Klo-hi-lee Squirrel. 



BIRDS. 117 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Klo-hot-go-chee Squirrel (grey). 

Klo-hi -lee-chaw-tee Squirrel (red) . 

Yee-haw Wolf. 

Kon -kla-po-chee Chameleon. 

E-cho-yi-pee Antlers. 

Wa-ka-e-fo-nee Bone (cow). 

Fit-chee-la w-pots-kee Entrails. 

Nee-haw Fat. 

Wa-ka-haft-bee Hide (cow). 

Yi-pee Horn. 

Fit-chce-lock-o Stomach. 

E-hot-chee Tail. 

E-no-tee Teeth. 

E-po-lo-wa-kee Elephant. 

Chil-lock-o Horse. 

Chil-lock-o-chee Colt. 

Chil-lock-o-pi-e-caw Mule. 

Wal-ka-ho-non-waw Ox. 

Wal-ka-chee Calf. 

Suck-aw Hog. 

Po-sha-chee Cat. 

Yep-e-fa-e-caw Sheep. 

E-fa-chee Puppy. 

Cho-wa-taw Goat. 

Wal-ka Cow. 

Birds. 

0-so-wa w Hi rd . 

O-chot-aw Black bird. 

Shock-kil law Black bird (red wing). 

Wa-to-law Whooping crane. 

0-shaw-o-waw Crow. 

Hi-lo-lo Curlew. 

Hi-lo-lo-chaw-tee Curlew (pink). 

Posh-e-ho-we Dove. 

Fo-cho.. Duck. 

Hat-tit-e-fon-caw Eagle. 



Il8 VOCABULARY. 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Sho-caw Hawk. 

Sho-ko-chce Sparrow hawk. 

Hos-cho-kee waw Fish hawk. 

Wak-ko-lot-ko Heron (great blue). 

Wak-ko-lot-ko-o-hi-lot-tee Heron (little blue). 

Fost-chi-taw Red bird- 

Hi-lo-lo Ibis (white). 

Tos-chee Jay (blue). 

Pen-na-waw Turkey. 

We-hot-ko-fo- sho-wo-chee Snipe. 

Eash-pock-a-waw Robin. 

Fost-chi-taw Red bird. 

Sho-lee Vulture. 

Sho-lee-pee-los-pes-ko Vulture (black). 

Chip-ee-lop-law Whippoorwill. 

Fo-a-kee Quail. 

Pen-uit-kee Turkey hen. 

Pen-na-waw-en-to-wee Turkey beard. 

Pen-cha-ho-gaw Turkey cry. 

Pen-ni-chaw Turkey gobbler. 

Fo-shon-nits-kaw Rookery. 

Shee Feathers. 

Lo-cha-e-stow-cha-kee Egg. 

O-cho-ko King fisher. 

Ho-shock-e-a-caw Limkin. 

0-shi-hi-yi Mocking bird. 

E-fo-law Owl (screech). 

Pot-see-lon ee Paroquet. 

To-to-lo-chee Chicken. 

O-shot-Caw Heron (great white). 

O-shot-co-chee Heron (little white). 

0-pal Owl (eared). 

E-chee pa-hot-tee Mother Cary's chicken (Petrel). 

Fish and Reptiles. 

Sar-sho Fish. 

Sar-sho-o-kee-lon-waw Cat fish. 



INSECTS. 119 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Whit-lo-ko Oyster. 

Shar-lo Trout. 

Sar-sho-chee Minnow. 

Shup-sho-chee Pickerel. 

Al-la-pa-taw Alligator. 

Aw-pa-to-naw Frog- 

Chit-ta-mic-co 1 ^j. f Chief of snakes. 

Chit-ko-la-la-go-chee ^ t^ Rattle snake. 

Ko-tee Toad. 

Chit-ta-lus-tee Black snake. 

Aw-shock-olaw Snail. 

Holock-waw Turtle (soft shell). 

L,o-chaw Turtle (land). 

Chit-ta-lock-a-chee Snake (spotted). 

0-co-la-chit ta Snake (green). 

Skin-chocaw Frog (tree). 

Gotch-es-waw Turtle. 

Insects. 

Tock-o-cha-cha-tee Ant (red). 

Tock-o-cha-lus-tee Ant (black). 

Fo-a Bee. 

Chil-lock-o-fo-a Bee (drone). 

Cuflf-ko Flea. 

Cho-naw Fly. 

Scop-o-swaw Gnat 

A-caw-ko-taw Grasshopper. 

Chil-lock-o-do-no Horse fly. 

Taw-fo Katy-did. 

0-he-aw Mosquito. 

OA-klo-klou Spider. 

U-e-cot taw Worm. 

Och-o-klon-we-ahr Spider web. 

To-ka-tes-kee-at-tee-lo-e-waw Silk worm. 

Soke-so Beetle (black). 



I20 VOCABULARY. 

Plants. 

SEMINOI.E. ENGLISH. 

Ivock-e tum-ba-e-cec Oak leaf. 

Ech-to-fa-la-ha-lee Chip. 

E-to Wood (toburu). 

Cho-lee-saw Pine leaf. 

Im-pock-pock-ee Flower. 

Pi-hee Grass. 

Gatch-ho-ho-e-claw Blackberry. 

Aw-won-aw Willow tree. 

Chit-ta-hum-pe-ta Snake plaut. 

Til-e-ko Oats. 

Shot-i-pee Persimmon tree. 

Shot-taw Persimmon. 

Shot-o-nin-kla Persimmon seed. 

Gotch-o Poison vine. 

Aw-sheu-lock-o Air plaut. 

Aw-shen-waw Moss 

Shil o-fo-haw Water lily. 

^^'e-sho Sassafras. 

Tol-o-lock-o Palmetto (cabbage tree). 

Tol-o-chee Palmetto (young cabbage tree). 

Tol-o-neck-la Palmetto seed. 

She-hop-paw Saw palmetto. 

Aw-shit ta-taw Gall berries. 

A w-tock-claw Weed. 

Chaw-fo-ka-naw Huckleberries. 

Hi-lis-hot-kee Ginseng. 

He-swan-i-hit-caw Quinine. 

Gout-lock-o Cactus. 

Com-to-lock-o Peanut. 

Ti-fum-bee Onion. 

Hee-chee Tobacco. 

O-chee o-pee Hickory tree. 

Kee Mulberry tree. 

Hatch-in-e-haw Cypress tree. 

E-la-hock-o Shaddock (grape fruit). 



THE FIRMAMENT— PHYSICAL PHENOMENA, ETC. 121 
The Firmament— Physical Phenomena, Etc. 

SEMINOLE ENGLISH. 

Go-chee-som-po-lock-o Large star. 

Go-chee-som-pol-e-poch-go-chee Small star. 

Cho-go-lof-caw Seven stars. 

Ho-nit-claw North star. 

Wa-hit-law South star. 

Ho-so-shaw East star. 

Aw-kil-lot-caw West star. 

Ha-shay Sun. 

Hit-to-tee Frost. 

It-to-tee • Ice. 

We-wa Water. 

Os-e-caw Rain. 

Ti-nit-kee Thunder. 

Ot-to-e-hot-tit Lightning. 

Go-ti-lee Wind. 

Ha-notch-e-fo-law Whirlwind. 

E ho-tee Ground. 

O ti-lee-lock-o Storm. 

Ha-shay-shay-pock-taw-lo-gaw Eclipse of the sun. 

Ho-nit-chaw North. 

H a-so-sa w East. 

Wa-ha-law South. 

Op-alock-aw West. 

Ha-lits cha-shay-pock-ta-lo-gaw Eclipse of the moon. 

Hi-yi-tee-e-chaw Morning star. 

E-pof-kee Evening. 

Hi-e-ta-ma-es-chee Heat. 

Chit-cho I^ew. 

Ho-lo-chee A. cloud. 

Kinship. 

Sop-po-chee My son. 

Chat-hos-tee My daughter. 

Solk-go-chee My father. 

Sots-kee My mother. 

E-chock-o-tee Brother. 

E-cho-see Brother (younger). 



122 VOCABUIvARY. 

SEMINOI^E. ENGUSH. 

E-la-ha Brother (older). 

Cho- wen-wa w Sister. 

Cha-hi-e-waw My wife. 

Squaw Wife 

Picc-a-nin-ny Child. 

Verbs, Phrases, Sentences. 

Ah-ho-chee To plant 

Tote ca-taw To whistle. 

E-lo-chaw To date. 

I^op ko Make haste. 

Ah - m os-chay To gi ve. 

Chim-moc co-dos-chay Not to give. 

Humbi-da-lon-es-chay To feed. 

Yi-es-chay To sell. 

Neich-hi-es-chee Not to buy 

Hock-ka eet-kit To cry. 

Op-peel-it To laugh. 

E-hi-e-kit To sing. 

Fi-i-it-lot-es chee To hunt. 

Oh-in-i-it To smell. 

Clot-la-klip-chay To break. 

Sop pa-lon-es-chay To sleep. 

He-ches-chee To see. 

Im-po-hos-chee To hear. 

Ah- es-chay Go. 

Hi-e pus To go. 

Chi-yot-chit To like. 

A\v-lock-chay To come. 

Cha-ho-sit Forgot. 

O-ko-sit Wash. 

He-chus-chee Saw. 

Fit-kon-nit '. Wait. 

Hal-wuk It is bad. 

Hink-las It is good. 

Hio-e-pus-chay Two go. 

Hi-op-pee-poxes-chay Three or more go. 



VERBS, PHRASES, SENTENCES. 123 

SEMINOLE. ENGI,ISH. 

I-wox-chee Many come. 

Aw-mul-cay All come. 

No-chip-os-chay Go sleep (you). 

Clot-la-klip-chay Broken (to break). 

Sup-pa-lon-eschay I take. 

Chi-ho-ches-chee I am lost. 

Che-ho-shar You are lost. 

E-wa-kee-pa-lon-es-chay Lie down, but not to sleep. 

Hum-kin-mi-si-e-pit Take one. 

Ye-hi-e-pa-taw To sing. 

So-toke-kee-na-aw-aw-mun-chee Give me money. 

Hi-e-pus-chay I go- 

Ot-som-ka-taw To go up steps. 

Hi-top-ka-taw To go down steps. 

Hock-it To whistle. 

Cho-ho-sit Forgot. 

Chi-yot-chee I want. 

E-see-op-cop-e-taw To ride. 

Chee-yi-chee Do you want? 

Mot-to Thank you. 

Es-tel-e-pi-e-ka-u-cha-ko-ot-e-he To put moccasins on. 

Kit-lix-chay Don't know. 

Kit-li-es-chay I know. ' 

Aw-kay-lot-kit Go in. 

Lop-ko-sin-ot-tos-chay Come quick. 

Chee-to-gaw To pole a boat. 

Scof-ga w To row a boat. 

Hum-pux-chay-hum-pee-taw You eat plenty. 

No-chee-pa-lon-es-chay I am going to sleep. 

Sa-lof-ka-chop-kaw My knife is large (sword). 

Sa-lof-ka-chee My knife is small. 

A-pok-es-chay AH sit down. 

No-chip-os-chay Go sleep (you). 

Che-mo-on-ot-es-chay Are you sleepy ? 

I-hoo-es-chay Let us go. 

Ho Yes. 

L,i-kus-chay Sit down. 



124 VOCABULARY. 

SEMINOI.K. ENGI.ISH. 

Hi-top-cay-ta-li-kus-chay Sit down on steps. 

No-chit-pay-lon-es-chay Lie down and sleep. 

Its-kee-e-i-chee-tok-naw Mother wants to keep him. 

In-ka-o-ko-sit Wash hands. 

Mi-e-taw Tail (tree). 

Che-mi-hee Grow (you orme). 

Che-mi-hee-ta-mi-hee cha-mi-he-taw Grow very tall. 

Aw-ne-chee-mi-he-taw I grow. 

I-ti-it-tot-chi-mi-he-taw-mi-he-taw-te-hee I will grow tall. 

Ha-tee-e-tew-chee-hick-chay-hit-es-chay Glad to see you. 

E-cho-lid-kit-he-chus-chee I saw deer run. 

E-cho-ti-een-lid-kit-he-chus-chee I saw deer run fast. 

E-cho-lid-kit-smi-hi-ko-in-in-he-chus- 1 

cliee } I saw deer run slow. 

E-cho-yak-op-po-sit Deer walk. 

E-cho-yak-op-po-sit-hi-chus-chee I saw the deer walk. 

E-cho-mo-chon-it-ta-we-wa-ah-kay- j r To-day I saw a deer go in 
lot-kit-o-mi-e-it-i-in-he-chus-chee i I the water and swim. 

Il-lich-is-caw Did you kill it? 

Lop-fi-eets-chay Let us hunt. 

Im-po-hitch-caw Do you hear? 

He-chos-kos-chay .....I can't find it. 

To-pa-li-kus-chay Sit on floor (you). 

Pish-wa-chi-us-chee I ^ant some meat. 

Aw-som-es-chee-aw-pish-waw Pass me the meat. 

L,ox-a-dox-chay You lie. 

Is-chay-to-ma-es-chee Wind blew hard. 

He-a-maw Come here. 

Suck-chay All gone. 

Aw-pok-es-chay All sit down. 

Ha-sha-col-lock-tit Sun gone down. 

Ha-sha-i-sit Sun come up. 

To-ko-naw-yo-ko-dos-chay Money, no sell'em. 

On-e-way Me too. 

Un-gaw All right. 

Nock-a-tee What is it? 

Stom-a-taw Which way ? 



VERBS, PHRASES, SENTENCES. 125 

SEMINOLE. ENGLISH. 

Aw-lip-ka-shaw Good-by. 

Aw-tee-tus-chee By-aud-by. 

Ho-lo-wa-gus No good. 

Hi-lip-pit-ka-shaw How are you? 

Som-mus-ka-lar-nee-shaw Good luck. 

Ya-maw This way. 

Hock-es-chee Bird cry. 

Chi-yot-chit Uke them. 

Chee Young or small. 

0-fun-net-taw Longtime. 

En-cha-mun chay Well or good. 

Ho-nit chay, Wild. 

Ni-hit-tus-chay Fat. 

Wi-o-kee-tus-chay Poor. 

Es-to-chee-hock-a-eff"ee Baby cry . 

E-yof-kee-hum-pee-taw Supper (before dark). 

E-mots-kee-hum-pee-taw Supper (after dark). 

Kan-yuk-sa-es-ta-chat-tee Florida red men. 

Yo-ho-ee-hee War whoop. 

Aw-pox-see-lim-pox-say-nist-lee Day after to-morrow night. 

Stu-es-taw A great deal, or too much, 

Ya-ti-ka-chic-co Great Speaker (Commissioner.) 

Munks-chay No. 

Hi-lit-la-ma-es-chay Too hot (fire-water). 

Im-e-lo-la-tee-ti-yee Water rough. 

Ko-no-wa-hum-kin-mo-so-nit-ta-wi-yy- 1 I want a string of beads 
ches-chee ^ to-day. 

Shot-cay-taw Green Corn Dance. 

In-like-e-taw Heaven. 

E-shock-e-tom-e-see The Supreme Ruler or the white man's God. 

E-shock-e-tom-e-see-e-po-chee God's son, Christ. 

His-a-kit-a-mis-i Great Spirit. 

Po-ya-fits-a Indian's heaven. 

Il-lit Death. 

Som-mus-ka-lar-nee-sha-maw-lin Good wishes to white man. 



126 VOCABUI.ARY. 

The Indian Names of Some Present Seminoles. 

Tallahassee Mic-co. 

So-fan-gee Mi-la-kee. 

Fi-lan-e-hee Tal-la-has-so-wee. 

Ivas-ches-chee Fo-ston-sto-noc-ee-la. 

Ko-i-hat-cho Cal-lo-fo-nee. 

Yee-ho-lo-chee Tol-lo-see. 

0-mul-la-gee Shon-o-la-kee. 

She-y-o-hee On-nit-chee. 

Sla-shing-to-goth-la-gee I-o-chus-chee. 

Che-e-ho-la Suck-kin-ho-chee. 

Sten-o-la-kee Os-ce-o-la. 

Cho-fee-hat-cho Mat-lo. 

Os-shen-e-ho-la Nan-ces-Orwee. 

Ho-puth-tee-na-gee Tal-lem-ee. 

Tin-fai-yai-ki Kat-ca-la-ni. 






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